NMWF at work
NMWF, Zia Pueblo team up to rejuvenate spring
Volunteers from NMWF and Zia Pueblo met again in October to continue their restoration work on ancient springs on pueblo land north of Albuquerque. The effort is aimed at counteracting the effects of global warming and overgrazing on the spring, which has been used for generations but recently has dried up.
NMWF Conservation Director Alan Hamilton, who was one of the main organizers of the project, said the spring restoration is the kind of work that could expand greatly if Congress approves a clean energy bill that contains dedicated funding to help the nation’s wildlife and natural resource adapt to the changing climate.
Under the direction of Santa Fe ecologist Steve Vrooman, volunteers used rocks and dirt to create dams around the spring, which is on the edge of Ojito Wilderness Area and has been used by the Zia people for centuries. Rocks had to be hauled in from the surrounding area by hand. Then native grasses were planted in the dams to help keep the soil intact.
The idea, Vrooman told the Associated Press, is to slow the runoff from precipitation so the water seeps into the ground, eventually recharging the spring.
Hamilton said the changing climate requires people to start working together to find solutions. “I really think we’re at a place, a crossroads, a threshold where we have to start living differently and more responsibly,” Hamilton told the AP.
Congress is considering legislation to rein in greenhouse-gas pollution, and at the same time dedicate funding to hands-on projects aimed at helping the country’s natural resources and wildlife adapt to climate change. The U.S. House passed a bill in May that calls for dedicated funding to help natural resources and wildlife adapt to warmer, drier conditions that are expected in the Southwest. Sen. Jeff Bingaman has introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Senate.
In a letter to the New Mexico congressional delegation about the Zia project, Hamilton wrote, “This spring that began drying up and completely stopped running about six years ago, is a perfect example of the impacts that global warming is having on New Mexico.Yet this exactly the sort of project that can effectively restore these degraded springs and watersheds throughout the state.”
Click here to read the AP story.