Landscape - Sandplains

The Sand Hills of Nebraska is a region where the largest expanse of wind-blown sand deposits and dune topography in the Western Hemisphere (about 20,000 sq miles, USGS). The region supports mixed-grass prairie to take root in the shifting sand and stabilizing the dunes. Within these and hills, both ephemeral and permanent lakes and meadows occur between dunes where ground water is at or near the land surface. The World Wide Fund for Nature designated the Sand Hills as an ecoregion and according to their assessment as much as 85% of the land is intact natural habitat primarily due to the lack of cultivated agriculture and range cattle are managed in order to preserve the stability of the dunes. Throughout the High Plains dune sand soils are important recharge areas for the aquifer and the dune sand of the expansive Sand Hills specifically provides about 80% of the recharge for the aquifer. Consequently Nebraska has about 65% of the aquifer’s water (USGS publication).