Santa Fe River Commission met Oct. 12.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
1. CALL TO ORDER
Meeting called to order: 6:05 PM
2. ROLL CALL
Members Present:
Member Phil Bove
Member Heidi Klingel
Voting Member Patrick Smyth
Voting Member Andrew Erdmann
Voting Member Jacob Lyon
Members Excused:
Member Vanessa Springer
Member Emile Sawyer
Member Rachel Kullman
Member Andrew Black
Santa Fe County Commissioner Anna Hansen
Member Susan Coulter
Voting Member Daniel Spivak
Voting Member Michael Gonzales
Others Attending:
Zoe Isaacson, River and Watershed Project Administrator
3. ROLL CALL
4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION: Voting Member Lyon moved, seconded by Voting Member Smyth, to Approve the agenda as presented.
VOTE: The motion was approved on the following Roll Call vote:
For: Member Bove, Member Klingel, Voting Member Smyth, Voting Member Erdmann, Voting Member Lyon
Against: None Abstain: None
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. Approval of the September 14, 2023 Meeting Minutes
MOTION: Voting Member Smyth moved, seconded by Voting Member Lyon, to Approve the September 14th Meeting Minutes as presented.
VOTE: The motion was approved on the following Roll Call vote:
For: Member Bove, Member Klingel, Voting Member Smyth, Voting Member Erdmann, Voting Member Lyon
Against: None
Abstain: None
6. COMMUNICATIONS FROM OTHER AGENCIES/COMMITTEES
a. Update from the Santa Fe Watershed Association (Amara May, Director of Stewardship and Community Outreach: amara@santafewatershed.org)
Continuing clean-ups, weather improvements mean better attendance. SFWA is also working with City to wrap up the current contract for Adopt a River/Arroyo/Watershed. SFWA is also starting a project that they would like to involve the River Commission and City in to measure the leading edge of the Santa Fe River, which will measure how far the River reaches downstream. SFWA is using ArcGIS program Survey123 for this, reach out if you want to help work out the bugs and SFWA will also likely solicit help. Participants will include location, GPS data, and brief notes on the water flow (ex: foaminess.)
Chairwoman Klingel asks clarifying question whether this is meant to measure Living River flow, stormwater, or any specific source? This has not been distinguished yet, though ideally this data would be helpful for Living River release data. There have been observed instances of stormwater causing a downstream flow where there has been Living River flow upstream of a dry area and stormwater discharge downstream (for instance, Living River flow, then dry riverbed, then flow under Siler Rd bridge,) which might give the illusion of Living River flow reaching farther downstream than it does; this is a concern to address long-term that could potentially remedied by more data and observers.
Jessie Roach asks how participants can sign up and how data might be shared. Participants can use a QR code to record a measurement without an account. Data is housed in River Source’s account and available upon request, might end up in City account long-term.
7. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
a. Two-Mile Pond Status Update (Jesse Roach, Water Division Director, City of Santa Fe: jdroach@santafenm.gov)
Jesse Roach briefly reviewed the presentation from the brief meeting on September 19th , which nearly every commissioner attended (core takeaway being concept of storage vs. flow in the Two Mile Pond area.) New information provided here is that the City appears to NOT have storage rights at Two Mile Pond, and would need to file an application for a diversion permit in order to divert water through Two Mile pond area. Director Roach created a matrix showing what flow vs. storage might look like and involve, see attached slides.
Director Roach has been asked by the City to provide four things. The first involves asking the River Commission’s Two Mile pond subcommittee for help spreading public awareness and getting input from Santa Feans via public meetings. Guidance from the River Commission is requested so that they may remain involved all along the way. The second involves supplementing the two existing flow monitoring locations in this area with the installation of three additional flow monitoring locations, which would assist in conducting a hydrologic assessment of the area to discover what are the implications of sending water through or around the Two Mile pond area. The third piece would be an ecological study that goes beyond understanding water flow and would seek to understand how the wider biological/ ecological system is responding. Fourth and final piece is taking any public feedback and data collected and have the River Commission make a recommendation that can drive a resolution/ path forward that can be presented to the City’s Governing Body.
Chairwoman Klingel asked whether the City is currently moving forward with applying for a diversion (through the State’s Office of Engineers (SOE).) Per Roach, the City is not currently applying, and hopes to have a final resolution on whether they will apply in the next couple months based on study findings, public input, and a formal stance in writing from SOE. Klingel further inquired whether SOE had determined how much water was allowed to be impounded, which there has not been but there has been some indication that diverting water through the pond would require offsetting evaporative losses. Klingel also asked if new monitoring locations would be able to figure out the maximum outflow through the outlet and whether that exceeds 7 cfs, which they potentially could but will not right now because the City cannot legally divert water.
A member of the public representing the Canyon Neighborhood Association noted that they had been informed that the water right for this area had been grandfathered in, though recent email correspondence between Jesse Roach and the OSE directly contradicted this update. Commissioner Jacob Lyon asked whether the City would need to acquire water rights to offset evaporative losses given diversion, which seems to be correct, and where those water rights would come from, which seems less clear. Lyon also asked what tools the City and River Commission have to test the water over the next year or two given restrictions from OSE, which seem to be seasonal measurements of natural flows and groundwater infiltration. A second member of the public and former River Commission chair posited that the system had been suffering for several years, that he would like to see more public involvement in this process moving forward, and that he had data from past biological surveys that he would be willing to share with the Commission and the City.
Patrick Smyth asked a question clarifying that the City has some physical infrastructure but not the legal right to divert water through Two Mile pond. A member of the public noted that there had been a previous study of the bypass/ restoration channel that found that suggests there is some water loss in the bypass channel due to evapotranspiration and seepage into groundwater that may end up in Two Mile pond. The same member of the public noted that it has been some time since the most recent flood study in the area. The River Commission has in the past written a letter to the City suggesting a total River restoration in the historic channel, which would potentially cover this. A member of the public representing the Canyon Neighborhood Association asked a question clarifying the placement of new monitoring locations, and informed the Commission that they are beginning the process of their own investigation into whether a pond is viable and/or best for the area and will be potentially hosting a public meeting on that topic that the Commission would be invited to attend. There was more discussion about the channel areas and flow.
8. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS
a. Establishing River Commission Sub-Committee Roles (Heidi Klingel, Chairwoman, heidiklingel@hotmail.com)
During the previous meeting, the River Commission mentioned wanting to form subcommittees that are committed to various projects related to the River. After a wide discussion, these are the subcommittees that were formed:
• Outreach & Information Sharing (A. Hansen, J. Lyon, A. Erdmann)
o Santa Fe River Traditional Communities Collaborative
o River Talks
o LDC Update[s]
• 2 Mile (H. Klingel, J. Lyon)
• Citizen Science (P. Smyth, H. Klingel)
o Extent of wetted channel (coordinating with SFWA)
o Water sampling
• Mapping (P. Smyth, P. Bove, A. Erdmann)
o Stormwater Story Map/ MS4
o Acequia trespass
• Communal/ timely projects (All as applicable)
o River Fund
o Adopted River Clean-ups
9. MATTERS FROM STAFF
Alan Hook reported briefly on Acequia Madre and Cerro Gordo.
10. MATTERS FROM THE PUBLIC
11. MATTERS FROM THE COMMISSION
12. NEXT MEETING: December 14 2023
13. ADJOURN
https://santafe.primegov.com/public/portal
