Santa Fe River Commission met June15.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
1. CALL TO ORDER
The Santa Fe River Commission was called to order at 6:04 PM
2. ROLL CALL
Members Present:
Member Heidi Klingel
Santa Fe County Commissioner Anna Hansen
Voting Member Andrew Erdmann
Voting Member Jacob Lyon
Members Excused:
Member Vanessa Springer
Member Phil Bove
Member Emile Sawyer
Member Rachel Kullman
Member Andrew Black
Member Susan Coulter
Voting Member Patrick Smyth
Voting Member Daniel Spivak
Voting Member Michael Gonzales
Others Attending:
None
3. ROLL CALL
4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION: Voting Member Lyon moved, seconded by Santa Fe County Commissioner Hansen, to Approve the Agenda as presented.
VOTE: The motion was approved on the following Roll Call vote:
For: Member Klingel, Santa Fe County Commissioner Hansen, Voting Member Erdmann, Voting Member Lyon
Against: None Abstain: None
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. Approval of the April 13th, 2023 Meeting Minutes
MOTION: Santa Fe County Commissioner Hansen moved, seconded by Voting Member Lyon, to Approve the minutes as presented.
VOTE: The motion was approved on the following Roll Call vote:
For: Member Klingel, Santa Fe County Commissioner Hansen, Voting Member Erdmann, Voting Member Lyon
Against: None
Abstain: None
6. COMMUNICATIONS FROM OTHER AGENCIES/COMMITTEES
a. SFWA Adopt-the-River/Adopt-an-Arroyo Status Report (Amara May, SFWA Outreach Coordinator, amara@santafewatershed.org)
The SFWA had their newly formatted “Love Your Watershed Day” in May. The even was an attempt to increase community-wide participation for litter/trash removal from the river corridor. The SFWA thought it was a successful revamping of the traditional river cleanup event usually held at Frenchy’s Field. The SFWA will continue to tweak this event in the hopes to attract more volunteers.
The SFWA has hired a new outreach coordinator and are excited to bring them on board. They will work with volunteer groups throughout the city and help with eduction and outreach. In part, this person will help work on internal processes to improve tracking and increase Stewardship participation. Currently the SFWA is working on hosting their first workshop on thinning and maintenance.
Chair Klingel mentioned that there is an expert Cottonwood botanist in town interested in volunteering. Ms. Klingel is wondering if they could reach out to the SFWA for potential collaboration. Ms. May agreed that that was a good first step and welcomes the connection.
7. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
a. Status Update on the 2023-2024 Living River Target Flow Hydrograph (Patricio Pacheco, City of Santa Fe Water Resource Coordinator, pmpacheco@santafenm.gov)
Alan Hook of the Water Division gave a quick overview of reservoir storage and how it relates to Living River Releases. Snowmelt has peaked and water quality has improved. More water is being sent to Canyon Rd for treatment and less volume is coming into McClure. Because of these factors, the river releases have been reduced and the Water Division is now following the approved 23-24 Target Flow Hydrograph.
8. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS
a. Proposed changes to infrastructure along the Santa Fe River between Nichols and Cerro Gordo Road (Jesse Roach, Water Division Director, jdroach@santafenm.gov, 955-4309)
Director Roach presented his proposed infrastructure changes to the Two-Mile Pond Complex in response to Office of the State Engineer’s rejection of the TNC diversion. Once the cease and desist order is implemented, the ponds will drain leaving pockets of standing water and or saturated soil. This is a concern of the residents on upper Canyon Rd as they are worried about mosquitos. They are also concerned with the impacts on the constructed wetland and overall loss of the amenity for the community.
Dr. Roach suggested installing a low-flow diversion at the restoration channel to divert a “minimum” flow through the ponds to maintain flow. Dr. Roach suggests using Living River Flows as the source of the pass-through flows. However, Dr. Roach did not suggest what a minimum flow might look like and at times suggested that all or some of the target flow allocation could theoretically be delivered through the complex. Dr. Roach stated that the determination of the volume of flow to be delivered through the “low-flow” bypass should be determined by the River Commission as that is a policy question and not something for the Water Division to decide. The River Commission questioned whether this is a viable delivery mechanism for Living River (LR) water as routing LR deliveries through the pond complex will likely lead to a diminishment of flow downstream.
Dr. Roach also suggested an alternate or combined option of delivering some or all of the LR water using a raw water pipeline from Nichols to just above the bypass channel where the water, after traveling a short distance, would converge with the bypass channel just below the Restoration Channel. The River Commission questioned this as the outlet of the raw water pipeline’s proximity to the bypass channel and it’s ability to efficiently convey water is unknown.
The River Commission questioned the purpose and need of the proposed infrastructure changes as the idea of sending LR deliveries through the pond complex is counter to the goals and objectives of the Target Flow Ordinance. The Commission questioned the equity of such a decision since it would likely limit how far the water would travel downstream. The Commission also called into question the environmental impacts of changing the delivery mechanism as well as the administrative function of the proposed changes.
b. 2023-2024 Commission Goals (Heidi Klingel, Chairwoman, heidiklingel@hotmail.com)
Chair Klingel mentioned that the River Commission should be thinking about objectives and the formation of subcommittees. Because there are several members absent from this meeting, they will wait until August to dive into this further. In the meantime, Ms. Klingel request the Commissioners think about what they would like to achieve while on the Commission.
Ms. Isaacson mentioned that she will send out a spreadsheet with stated goals as a way to help the Commission form their subcommittees.
9. MATTERS FROM STAFF
a. Project Updates (Zoe Isaacson, Staff Liaison, zrisaacson@santafenm.gov, 955-6853)
Ms. Isaacson gave updates on the River Talks and the finalized schedule, requested that the Commissioners attend at least one talk. Ms. Isaacson mentioned that she will not be able to attend the talk on the 26th and will need someone to assume the role of hosting. She will send an email to the Commission with the schedule attached and ask for volunteers then.
10. MATTERS FROM THE PUBLIC
11. MATTERS FROM THE COMMISSION
12. NEXT MEETING: August 10 2023
13. ADJOURN
https://santafe.primegov.com/public/portal
