Evaluating wetland hydrological performance under three different conservation programs in Nebraska, United States, during 2018–2021

Assessing hydrological dynamics of wetlands is essential for understanding ecological services. This study utilized open-access Sentinel-2 satellite data to enhance conservation management by enabling near-real-time monitoring and assessment of hydrological dynamics in conserved lands across Nebraska, United States. Using machine learning and Google Earth Engine, this research classifies surface water cover rate for different conserved land sites in Nebraska in 2018–2021. The results of the study confirmed successful inundation performance in conserved wetland sites under Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), and Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA). The WMA sites had the highest inundated area rate of 16.41%, indicating active hydrological inundation of the core conserved land areas. The WRP and WPA sites reached a mean annual surface water cover rate of 8.07% and 7.51%, respectively, demonstrating occasional flooding or periodic inundation of core wetland areas but limited inundation coverages of the surrounding areas. The findings confirmed that wetland conservation practices are functioning very well on the sites with higher inundation rates, but hydrological restoration at the watershed scale could boost conservation performance for the entire conserved land areas. The findings of this research provide robust evidence for obtaining surface water inundation data, which is crucial for sustainable conservation assessment and achieving long-term goals in wetland monitoring, protection, and management.