The Randall Davey Audubon Center Newsletter - Fall 2004
GROWING AT THE EXPENSE OF THE RIVER: MUNICIPAL WATER USE AND THE RIO GRANDE
EDUCATION UPDATE
BOOKS FOR BIRDERS & BIRD LOVERS
WELCOME TO OUR NEW
INTERNS!
FROM THE DIRECTOR’S NEST: Just
One of Those Days By David Henderson
HAPPENINGS OF AUDUBON NEW MEXICO
AND THE RANDALL DAVEY AUDUBON CENTER
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
- Great Volunteers
RDAC NATURE STORE - Bird Photography
CONTACT US
PERSONNEL
GROWING AT THE EXPENSE OF THE
RIVER: MUNICIPAL WATER USE AND THE RIO GRANDE By Robin
Goldstein - Summer Intern
Water from
the Rio Grande has supported agricultural communities in New Mexico for
centuries. Today, the river is completely appropriated for utilitarian purposes,
increasingly toward municipal and industrial uses, and nearly 95% of the river's
annual flow is diverted. As a result of this usage, parts of the Middle Rio
Grande have run dry for five of the past six years, and, for the first time in
2001, the river did not reach the Gulf of Mexico. As is generally the case, the
ecology of the area has been the first to suffer, with 20 native vertebrate
species extinct and over 30 currently in jeopardy. According to
conservationists, unless the public does something to ensure the Rio Grande has
a right to its own water, it will become a ghost river.
At a time when the river is badly in need of inputs of water, municipalities are looking to the Rio Grande to ease their supply shortfalls. Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Española all have projects in the works to divert water directly from the river under their San Juan/Chama (SJ/C) contracts. The SJ/C diversion, built by the Bureau of Reclamation in the 1960s, transports water across the continental divide for use in the Rio Grande Basin. The impetus for these projects is the realization that groundwater pumping - the sole source of water for Albuquerque and the main source for Santa Fe - is quickly becoming unsustainable. Albuquerque's aquifer has shrunk 200 feet in the last 30 years and the quality of the groundwater will not meet the new federal arsenic standards coming into effect in 2006. Similarly, the water table at Santa Fe's Buckman well field has been depleted 100 feet in the past 20 years and the ground above it is beginning to show signs of subsidence. The projects in Albuquerque and Santa Fe aim to relieve pressure on their aquifers and, in the case of the former, to provide a so-called "sustainable supply" into the second half of this century.
Those concerned about the health of the river have raised a number of negative issues surrounding these projects. Albuquerque's diversion for its Drinking Water Project (DWP), which was approved in July by the state engineer, will make use of the city's full SJ/C allocation. This means that water previously allowed to flow downstream under leases with other users such as the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District would no longer be available to the river. Furthermore, the project will be operating under a returnflow credit plan, in which Albuquerque will withdraw twice their contracted amount and return the half not consumptively used to the river 15 miles downstream at their water treatment plant, depriving that stretch of water and decreasing the water quality downstream. Santa Fe's Buckman Direct Diversion (BDD) project does not yet have a completed environmental impact assessment, but its implementation will likely have similar effects.
Beyond the specifics of these projects, however, the diversions represent another set of straws stuck into the river by the unchecked growth of municipalities. If current trends continue, the population of the Jemez y Sangre Water Planning Region, which includes Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Española, is projected to increase from 160,000 to 360,000 residents by 2060. This will increase residential and industrial water demand by 31,500 acrefeet per year, 40-60% of which will be in Santa Fe and Santa Fe County alone. Although both Albuquerque and Santa Fe have implemented several water conservation initiatives, all conserved water is inevitably directed toward new urban growth and development. As these municipalities grow, strategies used to obtain additional water rights, such as retiring agricultural rights, do further harm to the river-aquifer system by decreasing groundwater recharge that occurs in large part through flood irrigation and infiltration from man-made channels that parallel the river.
In order to ensure the Rio Grande's survival as a living river, cities must make a commitment to the river's in-stream flows in a way that does not compromise their long-term water supply. This necessity has recently been addressed by the Alliance for Rio Grande Heritage – a consortium of 13 environmental groups, of which Audubon New Mexico is a member organization. As part of their Santa Fe campaign to create an alternative to the BDD, the Alliance has proposed a mechanism by which citizens could elect to dedicate water they conserve below a baseline amount to the Rio Grande. The threshold for conservation would be based upon historic water use averages documented in the household water budget written this year by the city's Water Conservation Committee. A check-off program would be incorporated into the city's billing system that would allow residential and commercial users to choose the destination of their conserved water. In conjunction with this, the Alliance is negotiating the establishment of a Rio Grande Reserve to house the paper water rights dedicated to the river. Associated wet water would at first not be diverted, but would eventually be stored in existing reservoirs in the upper Rio Grande, to be released in a fashion that would most benefit the riparian and aquatic ecosystems.
This initiative, which democratizes the use of water, would create an incentive for conservation apart from cost-related penalties and would free up water for in-stream flows. Although the water donated by Santa Feans alone would not make a substantial impact on the river, this conservation plan, according to John Horning, director of Forest Guardians, is necessary in order to “create a popular mandate for river protection." Establishing Santa Fe as a leader in river-conscious water management may also provide a working model for other municipalities. In Albuquerque, a similar proposal has never come before the city council due to lack of support from the council members. Another Alliance member organization, New Mexico's Public Interest Research Group, however, is currently funding a University of New Mexico study to determine how the city’s residents would like conserved water to be used, in order to garner endorsement for the plan.
Although the success of the Alliance plan would be of definite benefit to the Rio Grande, it may still not be enough to buffer the river against ever-growing demand. A bid for a moratorium on growth in Santa Fe two years ago resulted instead in a toilet retrofit program, which has decreased new water demands but will only be constructive for a finite period. Of all the urban centers in the Upper and Middle Rio Grande Basins, only Española has stopped issuing new building permits, and this only until they can access their SJ/C water. Ultimately, if municipalities are not to grow at the expense of the river, urban planning must recognize the limits of New Mexico’s water supply. This is especially critical if we are indeed entering a drought, as historic climate data suggests. In times of drought, water in the Rio Grande is subject to even more competitive demands, with some inexorably taking precedence, such as meeting interstate compact agreements. It is imperative that municipalities engage in long-term planning today, so that the Rio Grande will be assured in-stream flows for the benefit of our ecosystems and of future generations.
EDUCATION UPDATE
Another successful and eventful
year has gone by for the education department. In early 2004, Eileen Everett
joined our staff as Education Specialist, and has quickly become a favorite of
children and adult visitors alike with her contagious enthusiasm and knowledge
of the area’s natural history. Ken Barragan became Education Manager in late
2003. Together with Eileen, the education interns, and our great volunteers and
contractors, we have served over 3,400 children in communities around the state
such as Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Roswell, and Santa Clara Pueblo.
Our renowned school programs have continued to improve and because of Audubon NM’s commitment to education, more low income children in Santa Fe and the rest of the state participated in our programs free of charge. Our very popular summer camp sold out in record time due to the commitment of Audubon NM to maintaining the excellent reputation of its educational offerings.
Looking ahead into 2005, Audubon educators are expanding their programming to include home-school groups, after-school programs, teacher training, a new adult lecture series, and offering classes to children in areas of the state not served in the past (e.g. Maxwell, Raton and Silver City, among others). We are grateful to all those who have helped us make our education programs so successful, and we look forward to growing our program even further in the near future.
BOOKS FOR
BIRDERS & BIRD LOVERS
Last spring nine
boxes arrived at the Center containing a rich array of books on birds of the
world. This wonderful collection is the gift of the late William Turner and his
wife Bobby, now living in Sedona, Arizona.
Bill Turner was a passionate birder and former president of the Sangre de Cristo Audubon Society. In the early 1980s when the Randall Davey Foundation was seeking an organization that would accept the gift of the artist’s property, Bill took the leadership role in bringing about that gift to the National Audubon Society.
The books range from George Miksch Sutton’s elegant Portraits of Mexican Birds – Fifty Selected Paintings to Hal Harrison’s Wood Warblers’World to Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania by Dale Zimmerman, Donald Turner and David Pearson.
When Dale Zimmerman of Silver City was asked to sign his book in the collection, he and his wife Marian not only complied with our request but also added several of their books to the growing library. And last month Jane Darby of Santa Fe donated an exquisite edition of John James Audubon’s Birds of America in memory of her husband Paul.
We invite our members and friends to enjoy these wonderful books in the Center’s conference room and we welcome additions. Our sincere thanks to Bill and Bobby Turner, Dale and Marian Zimmerman, Jane Darby and many others who have given such useful resources for the enjoyment of our bird-loving friends.
WELCOME TO OUR NEW
INTERNS!
Joanna G. Hardin
hails from Tennessee. She has a
degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Biology from Eckerd College in
St. Petersburg, Florida. She has conducted small mammal field research for the
USGS Biological Resource Division. She is certified in Project Wild and has
assisted in research involving tracking and radio telemetry of Minnesota wolf
populations.
Gregory Lake comes to us from California. He has a B.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon and a Certificate in Education for Environment and Community from the University of Washington/IslandWood Partnership. He has experience in trash/recycling operations and education. He is looking forward to expanding his EE and natural history experience working with Santa Fe children and visitors.
FROM THE DIRECTOR’S NEST: Just
One of Those Days
By David Henderson
You know
there are times when you have “just one of those days” or maybe even “one of
those weeks.” For the Randall Davey Audubon Center and its hard working staff,
it has been “one of those summers.” It actually started before summer with the
hiring of our newest environmental educator, Eileen Everett. There must be
something right about the Center to be able to pull this skilled, educated and
enthusiastic biologist/teacher away from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
She and Ken Barragan, our Education Manager, have grown into very complementary
teaching styles.
Then came Summer Audubon Adventures Camp. Word got out about camp and spread like wildfire (I guess that is not the best analogy given our drought and it being summer, but it does fit). Unbelievably, camp filled in two days – a testimonial to our educators who have worked hard to make our camp educational while keeping it a fun and safe place to learn. Camp ended without a major hitch. If you go by the evaluations from parents, it was our best ever.
But our summer didn’t stop there. Since our Center shares space with our State Office, there are times when important environmental issues take center stage and we work hard to educate New Mexicans about what they can do to make a difference. Two issues of great importance have surfaced in our great state and deserve our attention. Both issues involve oil and/or gas drilling: one is the Otero Mesa, a highly productive Chihuahuan Desert grassland in southeastern New Mexico and the other is the Valle Vidal in northern New Mexico, home of the state’s largest elk herd. In an effort to rally the troops to support protecting these important areas, the Center hosted an informational event that included, to our excitement, both Governor Bill Richardson and actor/environmental activist Robert Redford.
As if that weren’t exciting enough, providence shined on us again in August with another event at the Center. On a beautiful evening on the lawn we hosted Carol Browner, former EPA administrator and now chair of the National Audubon Society Board of Directors, to talk about Audubon’s legacy and its future. We invited Governor Bill Richardson and Congressman Tom Udall to introduce Ms. Browner and to discuss New Mexico’s environmental challenges. To our great joy it proved to be a most wonderful event and an embarrassment of riches, an embarrassment we hope to share with our supporters again.
The future looks bright for Audubon in New Mexico. Though the challenges will always be there, we continue to work hard preparing the next generation to inherit the legacy we leave for them and to apply the stewardship practices they learn while enjoying the wonders of nature at the Center.
RDAC NATURE STORE - Bird Photography
The Nature Store is
now carrying photographic works by local photographers John and Nancy Read.
Images include raptors, waterbirds, songbirds, seabirds, hummingbirds, and some
mammals. Each work is exquisitely matted, sealed in a protective covering, and
includes a signed certificate of authenticity. Stop by and take a look at these
beautiful works of art that are very reasonably priced at $30 each!
Birds Need Birdseed! Stock up on premium mixed seed, black oil sunflower and thistle. Need a feeder? We carry a variety of feeders to fit your habitat and birdfeeding needs.
Remember – RDAC members always receive 10% discount in our Nature Store!
HAPPENINGS OF AUDUBON NEW MEXICO
AND THE RANDALL DAVEY AUDUBON CENTER
NATURE TRAILS
Location: RDAC
Trails accessible daily from 9 AM - 5 PM
Fee: $2 Adults & $1 Children 12 and under
HISTORIC HOME TOURS
Location: Randall Davey Home & Studio
Time: Every Monday at 2 PM (Meet in Visitor Center) Fee: $5 per person. No
reservations required.
Step
back in time as you stroll through the home of the late
artist Randall Davey. The structure began as a lumber mill,
built in 1847 by the U.S. Army. This docent-led tour will give you
an opportunity to view some of Davey's most spectacular
works of art, and hear stories of the old days in the canyon.
GUIDED BIRD WALK
Location: RDAC Saturdays
at 8:30 am—10 am (Approx. end time) FREE — No Reservations
Required
An experienced birder will lead an easy walk through the
grounds of RDAC. Bring your binoculars or borrow ours. All skill levels welcome.
Meet in the RDAC parking lot promptly at 8:30 AM.
Saturday, September 18th
Friday, October 15th, Opening Reception
BIRDS AT RISK:
Endangered Birds of the World
Friday through Sunday, November 19, 20, 21st
FESTIVAL OF THE CRANES CHILDREN'S BOOTH
Saturday, December 4th
WINTER RESIDENTS OF THE SANTA FE RIVER CANYON
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT - Great Volunteers
The entire RDAC staff would like to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge our tireless store helpers: Tom Kenny, Ron Duffy, Arlene Vender, Natali Steinberg, Karen Ford, Martha and Ken Simonsen, Douglas Carver, and Andrea Cohen.
Thanks for all your help this summer!
If you would like to be a part of this lively group, or learn about other volunteer opportunities, please contact Lisa Boegl at 983-4609, or lboegl@audubon.org.
CONTACT US
Audubon New Mexico
Randall Davey Audubon Center
P.O. Box 9314
Santa Fe, NM 87504-9314
(505) 983-4609 Phone
(505) 983-2355 Fax
www.nm.audubon.org
Located at 1800 Upper Canyon Road, three miles east of the
Santa Fe Plaza.
Nature Store Hours 10 a.m. to 4 pm.
Historic House Tours Every Monday at 2 p.m.
PERSONNEL
Audubon New Mexico Board of Directors
Steve Melander-Dayton - President
Peter Chapin - Vice President
Leslie Barclay - Secretary/Treasurer
Janie Bosworth
Ruth Burstrom
Tom Jervis
Larry Lattman
Ed Mayfield
Jeffrey Myers
Mary Kay Papen
Ray Powell
Nan Schwanfelder
David Vackar
Don Van Soelen
Audubon New Mexico Staff
David Henderson - Executive Director
Kim Straus - Development Director
Deanna Einspahr - Operations Manager
Lisa Boegl - Volunteer Coordinator
Ken Barragan - Education Manager
Eileen Everett - Education Specialist
The mission of the National .Audubon Society is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.
9/9/04