We Finally Have Mud Showing; It's Millet Time

I don't know what I like most about this image from Nate: the expanding exposed mud, the hundred or-so egrets
happily feeding in the receding water, or the dragonfly that got caught flying away from the camera lens (click image to zoom)
-- today, I think I have to vote for the mud

Well, we reached two important milestones today: (1) we got to turn our air conditioning off in the house after what seemed like forever (I'm not a big fan of AC, but I have a low threshold for tropical humidity); and, (2) WE FINALLY GOT TO SHUT OFF THE DIESEL PUMP! That's right, the stars finally aligned. Because of truly tireless vigilance on the part of Roy . . . and Nate . . . & neighbors, as needed, the pumps kept running. And despite more than 6" of rain over an 18 day period, we finally brought water levels down enough to expose mud and aerially seed millet.

In truth, the millet won't be flown on till tomorrow or maybe even Sunday -- just because of scheduling conflicts with the pilot. And we may run the pumps (diesel and stationary electric) a bit more over the weekend, just for extra insurance. More thunderstorms are already on the horizon by the end of the weekend.

Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Libellula pulchella

But what we've pulled off thus far (literally, pulled off) is pretty amazing. I tracked rainfall and water levels very carefully since June 27th. This was the day that we could shift gears from about two months of effort on the neighboring marsh to our own water management. Even using conservative pumping rates (3,000-gal/min, average, combined between both pumps), we are looking at tens of millions of gallons of water moved from a ~140-acre area of our East Marsh in under three weeks. 

To put this volume in perspective, here's a visual. I was fortunate enough to grow up on a 10-acre lake/pond in south Toledo. While there are isolated areas of the pond that are 10-14' deep, most of the basin is more like 8' deep (excluding the side slopes to the bank). If we assume the basin averages 8' deep, which is probably about right, we just conveyed the equivalent of that entire pond, every last drop -- TWICE!

You may be able to sense the exuberance and relief I feel today. Why is this so important? How did two archaic pumps keep up with all this precipitation to set the stage for this? How do these management steps encourage natural processes? 

I go into decent detail in the recap of last year's efforts on a 40-acre unit on our West Marsh. But essentially, this allows for the introduction of a plant that can help reset the clock and re-calibrate a habitat. Because of decades (like 4-5 decades) of suffocating infestations of invasive plants, it will be a challenge. But the introduction of millet should help promptly create micro-habitats, provide a carbohydrate-rich food source, stabilize a water column, introduce a fresh layer of "clean" compost (once dead), and help introduce seeds of desirable aquatic plants (thanks to visitors on the wing) that will put these acres on a much more diverse and productive path moving forward.

This feels like the end of a chapter, and the beginning of another for much of the east side of the property. As with this entire project, time will tell how it is ultimately to be written.

SYRIAN BROWN BEAR -- Animal portraits © Joel Sartore

P.S. I participated in the first of two premiere showings of Rare last evening at Wildwood. My wife joined, and I couldn't agree more with her comment: This is not your typical nature show. It really raises awareness, and stirs a desire to do more for conservation.

We are doing another showing this Sunday afternoon at 2:00 at Wildwood Metropark. It's free and open to the public. See the post from earlier this week to learn more. I will also be participating again in a panel discussion on how to bring conservation to your own backyard. Whether you can make it Sunday or not, please check out the 3-part series on WGTE. You'll be glad you did.