Waterfowler's World: Setting the Table

By Bill Buckley TONYVANDEMORE.COM Managing water levels and planting the right kinds of food can turn your property into a duck magnet.   Successful management of wetland habitats to produce food for waterfowl depends on a few simple steps: drawing down water levels for planting, dispersing seeds at the right time, and then raising water levels in time for the ducks’ arrival. Many seed-producing plants are easy to grow and will vastly improve habitat, food diversity, and duck-drawing power wherever there’s temporarily exposed soil. Regardless of how much or how little you plant, waterfowl are likely to discover these new food sources, and their numbers will build over the years. Managing Water Levels “The annual drawdown of wetlands in late spring and early summer is crucial to their food-production potential,” says Matt Kaminski, a DU biologist based in California’s San Joaquin Valley. “Exposing soils to air allows an array of naturally occurring seeds to germinate, including smartweed, millet, and panic grass. These plants are important seed producers as well as structure for invertebrates, which are valuable food sources for ducks in late winter and early spring. Exposed, muddy banks and wetland bottoms are also great places to broadcast seeds like Japanese or browntop millet.” While some wetlands can be regulated via water-control structures, many seasonal wetlands and potholes naturally draw down in late spring th