How Revitalizing the American Prairie Can Secure Clean Water

Tucked away in North Texas, just an hour's drive from Fort Worth, lies the Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) National Grassland — a 20,250-acre patchwork of prairies and savannas. Hikers and horseback riders crisscross grassy trails, picnickers lounge under oak trees and bees dart between blooming wildflowers. These grasslands are some of the last remnants of the once vast Western Cross Timbers and Fort Worth Prairie of Texas, a region with a rich natural history.

Once a thriving ecosystem with vast herds of bison and other wild grazers, Texas' grasslands have drastically changed as settlements, farms and ranches have replaced wild species. Today, less than 1% of the state’s tallgrass prairies and oak savannas remain intact.

The LBJ National Grassland, like many grasslands around the world, has been quietly disappearing at an alarming rate. While deforestation attracts widespread attention and awareness, the loss of grasslands is often overlooked — even though they are important for providing clean water for rural communities and cities alike.

Yet, recent restoration efforts on the LBJ National Grassland offer a glimmer of hope, especially in the face of record-high temperatures and water shortages. Restoration efforts over the past two years by the U.S. Forest Service and its partners have included repairing degraded streambeds and removing invasive species for more than 200 acres of the Cottonwood Creek watershed, which is essential for delivering clean water to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

The Importance of Grasslands

Grasslands, or “prairies” as they are often known in the U.S., are environments where the dominant vegetation is grass rather than trees. Found in regions with too little rainfall to support forests but not so little that deserts form, grasslands like the Fort Worth Prairie in Texas have been a cornerstone of American history — from providing traditional livelihoods for Native people to serving as the sites of farms and ranches and, later, urban expansion.

The LBJ National Grassland and remaining tallgrass prairies and oak savannas provide critical benefits, like many other grasslands around the world. They mitigate drought and flood risks, filter and replenish groundwater, prevent soil erosion and provide habitat for hundreds of plant and animal species.

Texas alone is home to over 570 grass species and varieties, more than any other U.S. state. Many other native species (such as pecan, oak and hackberry trees) and endemic plants (such as pale yucca, white rosinweed and Engelmann’s sage) can be found flourishing across the grassy landscape.

The LBJ National Grassland also helps supply and regulate water for the Trinity River watershed, which supplies water to more than 50% of all Texans. The strong networks of grass roots help to recharge aquifers and prevent soil erosion. A single acre of tallgrass prairie can hold and clean up to 250,000 gallons of rainfall, which will be increasingly important as water demand in Texas surges.

Challenges Facing Grasslands

Despite their importance, grasslands like the Fort Worth Prairie have been disappearing.

Since the 1800s, extensive settlement and the loss of the traditional management practices of the Comanche, Wichita and Kiowa people have disrupted the ecological balance that had maintained the grasslands for centuries. Native grasses like little bluestem and Indiangrass were replaced by invasive plants introduced for livestock grazing.

Agricultural expansion — particularly plowing for row crops — along with overgrazing and fire suppression, led to habitat loss, soil erosion and declining water quality. By the mid-1920s, more than 80% of all native vegetation in Texas had been lost to farming, culminating in the 1930s Dust Bowl crisis — a series of destructive dust storms that swept across the Great Plains, stripping the unprotected topsoil and devastating local farms.

But this isn’t just a Texas problem. Across the U.S., only 4% of native prairies remain. And what’s left — mostly in the Midwest — continues to dwindle. Since 2010, over 57 million acres of U.S. prairies have been converted to cropland, while less than 10% of the world’s grasslands are protected. Tallgrass prairies have become one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world.

Though prairies once covered 20 million acres of land across Texas, today fewer than 200,000 acres remain. This has led to dire consequences for communities in North Texas, including decreased rain absorption, more frequent droughts and a higher risk of catastrophic wildfires. This comes during a time when farms, ranches and cities across Texas are already grappling with rising water demand.

What little remains of Texas’ grasslands are degraded and unhealthy. In the LBJ National Grassland, native grasses are being supplanted by aggressive, non-native hardwood trees and Eastern red cedars, which outcompete native flora and fauna. Streams and natural floodplains are continuing to decline due to channel erosion and sediment loss.

Hope for the Prairies: The LBJ National Grassland Project

In the face of looming challenges, restoration of the LBJ National Grassland offers a promising example of positive change. Like many other national grasslands, the badly eroded LBJ Grassland was purchased under the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act in the aftermath of the Dust Bowl in order to return it to a natural state. From this initiative, the National Grasslands system and the LBJ National Grassland were born.

Over the years, the once-barren national grasslands were mindfully revegetated to provide soil and water conservation, habitat for wildlife and to complement the productivity of nearby farms and private lands. But revegetation alone is not enough.

That’s why the U.S. Forest Service, in collaboration with WRI, the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and the National Forest Foundation, is leveraging corporate funds to conduct a suite of restoration techniques at the Cottonwood Creek Watershed in the LBJ National Grassland. Companies with nearby operations have invested to give back to the community and help protect their water supply. In water-stressed areas like Texas, companies have a strong incentive to ensure water continues flowing to keep their factories, data centers and offices running smoothly.

The Cottonwood Creek Watershed Restoration Project, supported by the Caterpillar Foundation, Cargill and other partners, spans nearly 1,000 acres of savanna, including dry oak and wet sedge-pecan habitats, and includes Cottonwood Creek and several small tributaries. The primary goals are to remove 340 acres of invasive red cedar trees and stabilize five areas of severe erosion where stream water flows over steep drops, known as “headcut sites.”

Red cedar trees intercept large amounts of water, reducing the supply for native plants and streams. Their removal allows native vegetation to thrive, increases groundwater recharge and improves soil stability, all of which helps reduce erosion and supports the overall health of the watershed.

To stabilize the streams, rocks are strategically placed to create a series of small, gradual steps in the streambed or gully. This slows down water flow, reduces erosion, improves groundwater recharge and stabilizes the surrounding soil to prevent further erosion.

So far, the project has removed 200 acres of invasive red cedar and restored one headcut site, with an additional 140 acres slated for removal in 2025. This work has boosted the grasslands’ productivity and could add nearly 14 million gallons of water back into the ecosystem, which will help keep the taps flowing in Dallas-Fort Worth and other nearby areas. If successful, the project could serve as a blueprint for future public-private partnerships, demonstrating a strong investment case for companies to protect their water sources.

The Future of Grassland Restoration

With the initial success of the LBJ project, the U.S. Forest Service and its partners plan to expand restoration efforts in the Cottonwood Creek Watershed — one of the most important source water areas in Texas.

With so much of Texas’ remaining grasslands in private hands, ranchers, farmers and landowners can join companies to play a critical role in any large-scale restoration efforts. By investing in grassland restoration, public and private entities can have a pioneering impact, revitalizing one of America’s most important landscapes and helping ensure that current and future generations have the water they need to thrive.