Commentary: Rainwater harvesting, green infrastructure, and low-impact development were the focus of a two-day workshop put on recently by the City of Las Cruces, Stream Dynamics (SD), Watershed Management Group (WMG), and the New Mexico Environment Department.
Attendees came from as far away as Santa Fe and Tucson. Many of those attending work for the City. Also represented were Doña Ana County, NMSU, UTEP, and NMDOT. Tucked in among the dozens of engineers, planners, architects, designers, and developers were also a few regular folks like me.
Most two-day workshops fail to deliver: the breaks are too short, the presentations too long, and the significance becomes lost in the shadows. Not so in this case, thanks to the folks who put this event together. Engaging and informative presentations by Claire Catlett and Van Clothier with SD, and by Kiernan Sikdar with WMG, were interspersed with walking tours of potential water harvesting sites and discussion in the fresh air and sunshine of the Branigan Library garden and amphitheater.
Sprinkled throughout the day were reminders to think of rainwater as a resource to make the most of rather than a nuisance to send as fast and far away as possible. Envision rain gardens, growing the soil, cooling our homes and walkways, and replenishing the aquifer.
On day two we were tasked with designing green infrastructure systems to manage erosion and protect the watershed at a variety of local sites. Anyone who lives here knows what happens when it rains on our urbanized desert landscape: ponds in the parking lots, exposed utilities, eroded banks, puckered pavement, proliferating potholes, and sediment in the streets.
The workshop introduced some of us citizens, and more importantly city and county employees, to the many creative, simple, inexpensive, and even fun ways to address these problems. Solutions range from the sublimely simple “one rock dam,” which most anyone who lives near the Organs could (and should for the sake of downstream neighbors) construct in a few hours, to more sophisticated earthworks that help protect property and infrastructure in flood events, and even purify polluted water.
Attendees were reminded that there’s no need to reinvent the water wheel. Our neighbors in Silver City and Tucson have been unpaving the way for many monsoons and are more than willing to share what they’ve learned. A variety of information is available on both www.watershedmg.org andwww.streamdynamics.us, including a free how-to manual for greening up your neighborhood, available in English and Spanish. WMG also offers a 7-day Water Harvesting Design Certification course that would surely be worth bringing to Las Cruces, if we’re serious about putting our money where our mouths are.
If all this talk is intriguing, but you prefer seeing to believing, keep an eye out for some green infrastructure enhancements to Albert Johnson Park, at the corner of Picacho and Main. That small pond in the parking lot that appears after a rain is in fact a prime water harvesting opportunity that’s been waiting for someone(s) to give it meaning.
The wait is over, the meaning is life, and that someone is you. Let the City Council (and County Commission) know that you’d like to see this undertaking, and other rainwater harvesting, green infrastructure, and low-impact development projects, become a reality in your neighborhood. It’s the perfect time to give the gifts of a healthy and prosperous present and future.
Dael Goodman is a resident of Las Cruces.