Erin Healy, an environmental engineer with The Mulloon Institute, is traveling to the High Plains in early April to visit the area’s rangelands and watersheds and see some of the recent work of Ogallala Life and friends at Wildcat Bluff Nature Center.
To correspond with this visit, Ogallala Commons is helping put on a Stewarding Our Aquifer Field Day at the center, located at 2301 N. Soncy in Amarillo. The event will be held 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9.
Members of the public — especially farmers, ranchers, Master Naturalists, agency personnel, and educators — are invited to attend. The purpose of the educational event is to provide information about management practices that can reduce groundwater depletion in the region, improve recharge of the Ogallala Aquifer, as well as assist in the transition from irrigated agriculture to rainfed agriculture.
The SOA Field Day is sponsored by Ogallala Commons, Ogallala Life, Wildcat Bluff Discovery Center with special thanks due the Tecovas Foundation.
Merging with the Don Harrington Discovery Center in 2021, the Wildcat Bluff Nature Center is home to an active collaboration to learn, educate, and demonstrate landscape rehydration techniques on representative rangeland in the Texas Panhandle. According to the center, the Texas Panhandle’s semi-arid climate has long struggled with drought; once sustained by aquifer discharge, West Amarillo Creek dried up in the 1970s due to land use changes.
“Water scarcity is a pressing issue for our community,” said Wendy Taylor, CEO of the Discovery Center Collective. “Through our partnership with Ogallala Life, we aim to test and implement sustainable water conservation methods that could make a meaningful impact—not just for Wildcat Bluff, but as a model for the entire region.”
Ogallala Commons is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides leadership and education to reinvigorate communities and the commonwealth in the Great Plains Region.
Ogallala Life Conservation Inc. started its restoration program at the center early last year, and “recently completed a second year’s primary work session, installing more natural infrastructure along West Amarillo Creek, and some agroforestry experiments on Mariposa Trails and the Tascosa Wetlands Complex. The intent is to slow, spread, and sink stormwater and recover watershed function,” the center said.
“We’re making real progress, but restoration isn’t a one-and-done project,” said Will Masters, co-founder of Ogallala Life. “We need time, patience, and continued community involvement to support this land’s recovery.”
Additional work was recently undertaken at Mission Ranch near River Road High School along an active stretch of East Amarillo Creek. They installed beaver dams and other structures to improve groundwater recharge and mitigate flooding and drought.
“I’m proud of what we’re doing,” Masters said. “It offers hope for a healthy & happy future, which relies on access to freshwater. A few years ago, we found a lot of inspiration in the work of the Mulloon Institute of New South Wales in Australia, which helped popularize landscape rehydration.”
The Mulloon Institute is a non-profit, research, education and advocacy organization that was established in 2011 by Founders Tony Coote AM and his wife, Toni Coote. Recognized globally as demonstrators of sustainable agriculture and environmental regeneration, they work to create healthier landscapes that are resilient to climate extremes and changes, benefiting the environment, farming and supporting communities.
Doors open for the April 9 event at 9 a.m. Masters, of Ogallala Life and an environmental educator at Wildcat Bluff, will give a brief talk and look at some maps. Then, Mulloon Institute’s Healy will present on her experiences and expertise in the flow of water through drylands, and Mulloon’s recent work and lessons learned.
This talk will be followed with a visit to upper West Amarillo Creek at Wildcat Bluff, to see some of the latest landscape rehydration works. Then, the group will reassemble for lunch and fellowship. Around 1:15 pm, the group will caravan to Mission Ranch, about 15 minutes east of Wildcat, and visit East Amarillo Creek, viewing some of the work within the flowing watershed.
Registration for the event is $30 per person, which includes the cost of lunch and snacks. To register and pay online, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/o/ogallala-commons-40336713233
Interested people can also contact Darryl Birkenfeld, Deputy Director of Ogallala Commons, to register for the event by email at darryl@ogallalacommons.org or by phone at 806-945-2255. Registration costs can be paid at the door.
Community members interested in volunteering can contact the Discovery Center Collective’s Volunteer Coordinator at volunteers@dhdc.org or sign up via Hands On Amarillo. Donations to support the project can be made at www.wildcatbluff.org.
Follow Wildcat Bluff Nature Center on Instagram and Facebook for updates on the project and upcoming events. Learn more about Mulloon Institute by visiting their website or following them on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Wildcat Bluff named 2025 Conservation Wrangler by Texan by Nature
Wildcat Bluff Nature Center has been selected as a 2025 Conservation Wrangler by Texan by Nature. The designation highlights the center’s ongoing initiatives, including:
In collaboration with Ogallala Life Conservation Inc., Wildcat Bluff is leading an innovative landscape rehydration project to combat water scarcity, land degradation, and biodiversity loss in the Texas Panhandle. To learn more about this project and upcoming opportunities to get involved, visit wildcatbluff.org
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Wildcat Bluff Nature Center to host Stewarding Our Aquifer Field Day
Reporting by Kristina Wood, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
