A Dry Field Can Still Be a Lake

A 1968 county survey counted 922 playas here. These shallow, round wetlands fill mainly with rain. Their wet-and-dry cycle is the point. In a wet spell, they grow plants and tiny water life that birds can eat. Cranes, ducks, and shorebirds can turn a plain basin into a busy rest stop.

The tax rule is strict. A playa may be part of real wildlife work, but the water alone does not qualify land for wildlife appraisal. The land must usually already qualify as open-space farm land or timberland. It must also be managed in at least three of seven approved ways. LCAD, not the wetland, makes that call for each tract.