Ogallala Life

#ReFi Generation #podcast episode 13 ?? Will M. convo w/ host Cash Upton re our latest #landscape #rehydration works at Wildcat Bluff Discovery Center (80 #leakyweirs, awaiting rains) & that of the year prior along the Canadian River breaks (110 #NIDS aka natural infrastructure, dryland streams, on 6 ephemeral drainages). & lots more - covered lots of ground - previewed below the link but you should stop reading & give it a listen ?? ?????? https://lnkd.in/gxu3h39U We reviewed challenges, such as consolidated ownership whereby oft absent & abstracted entities own huge swathes of the #txpanhandle & are entitled to #mine water, basically as much as they can #pump. Our public is understandably, but tragically, disconnected from place, denied mere access by threat of trespass. Daunting circumstances... A short aside too re #bison ?? Discussed what all this ?? has to do with #web3, #blockchain, digital assets et al. Overviewed a critical component to a functional ecosystem services market, ie #MRV, and briefed our work w/ dMeter (for #dMRV where d is digital, decentralized & distributed). Again, the "task" is to engage locals for applied citizen science, so as to support accessible & effective markets. Mentioned too our FOAM Inc #lorawan pilot whereby data can be made available to #oracles, to fulfill or deny conditions of smart contracts, with a #GPS independent #proofoflocation. And, within $Regen ecosystem whereby we've reviewed others' water centric proposals (ie Virridy, avoided emission credits to subsidize green infrastructure), have outlined concepts of our own (ie #playa #wetland #ecocredit) and will more intensively engage in #governance as csDAO-to-be, cohort 3. Whew! ?? #lfgrow #refi #desci #dePIn

Our bioregion is famous for unsustainable agricultural productivity, enabled by tapping the #highplainsaquifersystem (HPAS). Our landscape is depleting in terms of its' productivity potential, #biodiversity, air & water quality & quantity. Our communities exist in a state of learned powerlessness. But there's hope! There are all kinds of things we can do to #rehydrate our #landscape. This includes stormwater harvesting & riparian recovery, like the #NIDS we constructed on a half dozen #ephemeral streams N of the Canadian River & the #leakyweirs on West #Amarillo #creek at Wildcat Bluff Discovery Center. We intend to continue to grow a portfolio of research & demonstration projects and to cultivate bioregional learning centers... We're proud of our work, #IRL, but it's not enough. We can add dozens, even hundreds of projects and succeed in terms of raising local water tables, but it pales in insignificance to the scope & scale of #degradation. A transition to a sustainable, much less #regenerative, agroeconomic system requires better incentives. In other words, we need to pay land users to treat their #playa #wetlands like a wetland, to treat a river, stream & spring like the natural & cultural treasures they are. We need to keep more of the rain we get. Smart contracts enable the creation of novel systems that can underpin markets, enable transparent & democratic governance and finance distributed infrastructure. Regen Network Development PBC is an absolute leader in this space, and we are honored and privileged to participate in their community & engage in the larger ecosystem. It is our pleasure to announce our inclusion in Regen's Community Support #DAO program (csDAO)! We are in the 3rd cohort, themed “Ecosystem Partnership and Continuous Decentralization. It's a most excellent group including Shamba, ecoToken, Sunflower EcoTech, DAODAO & Finance for Gaia. To learn more about the #csDAO program, our participation therein and others in the cohort, see https://lnkd.in/duMhQQ5Q #LFG ??

Ogallala Commons has an upcoming Water Conference, a super cool format! Speakers are great, and there'll be presentations but there are also site visits, and will break out into smaller working groups on day 2, meant to extend beyond the 2-day event. One of the site visits is to our landscape rehydration pilot at Wildcat Bluff Discovery Center. https://lnkd.in/guDttM6z One of the working groups is centered around (Palo Duro Creek) & Tierra Blanca Creek. These 2 drainages cross the southern high plains and meet at a significant, beautiful confluence at the head of the nation's 2nd largest canyon, where Canyon TX now sits. Below the confluence, the watershed becomes the Prairie Dog fork of the Red River (of the South). The watershed has huge problems but every challenge = opportunity... We've many thoughts on this, will organize & share over the next few weeks. In the meantime, huge kudos to O.C. for assembling such a group! We're pleased to be invited and curious to see where it takes us. ??

Aerial showing windmill at Wildcat Bluff Discovery Center. We installed 80 #NIDS (leaky weirs, brush check dams...) along the bottom of west Amarillo creek, and these bunds to spread road runoff & overflow from the tank. We'll plant live cuttings in the bunds, & NIDS & few other spots - coppice to provision work future years. Clover, native grass & pollinator seed mix the terraced steps.

Check out ABC 7 Amarillo's news story on our West Amarillo Creek restoration project with Ogallala Life! We've made some great progress so far, but there are still plenty of opportunities to volunteer! Contact [email protected] if you're interested. https://lnkd.in/gdsJTape

We've a friend, Kai, who builds video games for sustainability & climate justice purposes. He shares our interests in ancestral knowledge, traditional infrastructure as relates to land uses & water ?? He joined a team, built game intro & submitted as entry to Just Play Jam, a game jam (contest) for #justice. it's awesome! Drawing Up Dust - A #narrative #playthinkfeel exploring #family, #journalism and #ogallala #aquifer #depletion Play intro yourself! ?? https://lnkd.in/gME4RfM7 Setting western KS, US #GreatPlains re #life & the High Plains Aquifer ?? inspired by story Lucas Bessire, Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains. They're a finalist! awards to be announced upcoming #SXSW team discussion here https://lnkd.in/g-gUqVCE

You may hear some noise up at The Bluff - and it's not gonna be wildlife! We're THRILLED to say that we have partnered with Ogallala Life to restore water in old West Amarillo Creek, seen from the Bluff face right alongside Windmill Trail and the old ranch road. Part of that is moving dead trees, adding trees to the land, and excavating dirt. There will be several workdays from now through April as Ogallala Life's team starts to add mechanisms on the land meant to hold onto water. We're excited to see the beginning of these long-term water conservation efforts and the effects they have on our ecosystem. ??

Solstice was yesterday, Christmas around the corner, Winter is here! We're preparing, planning #landscape #rehydration works pilot at Wildcat Bluff Nature Center to start in less than 1 month. In the meantime, here's a reminder that the growing season will return, the rains will come BUT its' not the rain you get that matters - its' the rain you keep. Here are some of the #leaky #weirs aka #natural #infrastructure in #dryland #streams (#NIDS) that we constructed Feb. 2023, "in action" following intense rains May & June. They're functioning as intended - impounding sediments, nutrients, debris and slowing, spreading (soak, sink) #stormwater. These a few of over 2 dozen built on this (relatively well-regulated) stretch of ranch creek - banks are unconsolidated #ogallala, basement bedrock quartermaster which tops #permian "red beds". Huge potential here but #oasification needs holistic adaptive management which a hard sell indeed when land use driven by single-interest stakeholders. So we'll continue to monitor & maintain but have shifted primary focus to country that has deeper, broader ties to community & an opportunity to collaborate with an organization that has mandate to educate natural sciences (ie Wildcat Bluff, Don Harrington Discovery Center). #LFG ??

Solstice was yesterday, Christmas around the corner, Winter is here! We're preparing, planning #landscape #rehydration works pilot at Wildcat Bluff Nature Center to start in less than 1 month. In the meantime, here's a reminder that the growing season will return, the rains will come BUT its' not the rain you get that matters - its' the rain you keep. Here are some of the #leaky #weirs aka #natural #infrastructure in #dryland #streams (#NIDS) that we constructed Feb. 2023, "in action" following intense rains May & June. They're functioning as intended - impounding sediments, nutrients, debris and slowing, spreading (soak, sink) #stormwater. These a few of over 2 dozen built on this (relatively well-regulated) stretch of ranch creek - banks are unconsolidated #ogallala, basement bedrock quartermaster which tops #permian "red beds". Huge potential here but #oasification needs holistic adaptive management which a hard sell indeed when land use driven by single-interest stakeholders. So we'll continue to monitor & maintain but have shifted primary focus to country that has deeper, broader ties to community & an opportunity to collaborate with an organization that has mandate to educate natural sciences (ie Wildcat Bluff, Don Harrington Discovery Center). #LFG ??