MISSION: Southwest Research and Information Center is a multi-cultural organization working to promote the health of people and communities, protect natural resources, ensure citizen participation, and secure environmental and social justice now and for future generations

The Dirt on Conservation Districts

On September 17, a special election was held for voters in Bernalillo and southern Sandoval Counties. At issue was whether the Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) should be dissolved. Sixty-one percent of the nearly 6,000 people voting in that election voted to retain Ciudad SWCD.

In the weeks preceding the election, it became clear that many people don't know what Soil and Water Conservation Districts are or what services and information they provide. This article, therefore, is part of an ongoing effort to better inform our constituents about who we are and what we do. Of particular interest to this readership may be the organization's potential for establishing, through its conservation projects, common ground among people with significantly different values and outlooks.

The Ciudad SWCD is a political subdivision of state government, and is one of forty-seven such districts in New Mexico. Formed in 1943 to help, on a voluntary basis, landowners and managers put conservation principles to work on the ground. For more than fifty years the Ciudad SWCD has solved natural resource problems brought to our attention by district residents. These projects often fill gaps left by other government agencies that, by law, can address only one type of problem or work in only one jurisdiction.

Among the many benefits the Ciudad SWCD, with one employee and a volunteer Board of Supervisors, provides to this community are the following:

• Ciudad is one of five SWCDs sponsoring a $1.25 million Bosque restoration project along the middle Rio Grande. The project will improve the riparian environment and increase river flows by removing salt cedar and other water-guzzling invasive plants.
• In coordination with several other agencies and organizations, the Ciudad SWCD initiated, designed and installed the Juan Tabo/I-40 interchange project. The demonstration site on westbound I-40 shows how to turn a liability - road runoff - into an asset for highway beautification and natural resource conservation. The project saves taxpayer dollars by reducing highway cleanup and maintenance costs.
• Ciudad is working with citizens and local governments to preserve and restore public open space properties ranging from valley farmlands to mountain parks.
• Ciudad helped develop a waste management plan for Albuquerque's Soil Amendment Facility and for the Black Ranch biosolid project.
• We bring the "Rolling River" to schools and special events throughout the metropolitan area. Thousands have learned about watersheds by using the model's moldable landscapes and running streams.
• Ciudad manages the East Mountain Forest Health Project. More than just wildfire protection, proper forest thinning in the wildland/urban interface benefits everyone by increasing the diversity of plant and animal species in the thinned areas, reducing erosion, and increasing ground water recharge. More than 300 applications have been received to date, and about 180 of those have been acted on.
• The District is coordinating the Tijeras Creek Urban Stormwater Demonstration Project, which will feature innovative, low-tech structures to capture and remove urban stormwater pollutants. Students are participating in restoring the demonstration site's riparian environment, and the District will hold workshops on how to apply the restoration methods in other urban locations.

The Ciudad SWCD recently received awards from Keep New Mexico Beautiful and from the New Mexico Riparian Council for its work on these projects.

Millions of dollars are funneled through our state for soil and water projects that are administered by New Mexico's 47 soil and water conservation Districts. These include monies for EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentive Program), which is a part of the federal Farm Bill that will provide area landowners with matching funds to implement water conservation and erosion control practices, and funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for implementation of Section 319 of the Water Quality Act, which addresses non-point source pollution.

The Ciudad SWCD's constituents are farmers, ranchers, and rural and urban landowners with whom we work on soil and water conservation projects. Through our state association we also maintain close contact with other districts in New Mexico and across the country. These contacts provide a valuable connection to a segment of the population that cares deeply about conservation issues, but who don't fit the typical environmentalist profile. Ciudad SWCD, therefore, can help bridge the gap that sometimes exists between urban environmentalists and traditional, land-based people.

We hope this brief article provides a better understanding of the Ciudad SWCD. Thanks to everyone who supported the district in the recent election, and please feel free to contact us for more information.

Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District
6200 Jefferson NE, Rm. 125
Albuquerque, NM 87109
(505) 761-5446
Fax: (505) 761-5448
Email: susan.rich@nm.usda.gov
www.ciudadswcd.org