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Taylor Creek Assessment |
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Watershed Planning |
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Sierra SWCD - Your local leaders in natural resources. |
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States are required to develop a list of waters within a state that are not in compliance with water quality standards and establish a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for each pollutant, as defined in the Clean Water Act, Section (303(d) 1. A TMDL is defined as “a written plan and analysis established to ensure that a water body will attain and maintain water quality standards, including consideration of existing pollutant loads, and reasonably foreseeable increases in pollutant loads. The New Mexico Environment Department, Surface Water Quality Bureau, is responsible for listing reaches of perennial and interment streams within the State of New Mexico and place those on the (303)d list. Sierra County does have certain streams that have been placed on that list, such as portions of Taylor Creek above Wall Lake and from Beaver Creek to Wall Lake. Other areas include portions of Alamosa Canyon, Percha Creek, and the Rio Grande. Stakeholders are asked to form and develop a plan to understand, disseminate, and address the impairments identified. It is the hope of the Surface Water Quality Bureau that those same stakeholders develop a watershed group that would produce a comprehensive watershed plan WRAS (Watershed Restoration Action Strategy) addressing the impairments and identifying management practices that could reduce the TMDL’s. The Sierra SWCD led the effort to write and complete a WRAS for the Taylor Creek watershed. Two times the District has applied for funding to implement the improvements identified in the plan, but has been unsuccessful thus far. A Rapid Watershed Assessment was completed on the Alamosa Watershed, as part of a funding effort from the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. The purpose of the Assessment was to identify the resource needs within the watershed, what conservation practices are already in place and what additional best management practices can be implemented. Currently, the Sierra SWCD is working with the New Mexico Environment Department on a study of Stiver Canyon, located in the Black Range Ranger District, Gila National Forest. The intent of the study is to monitor changes in the hydrologic conditions before and after forest restoration. The Sierra SWCD is committed to continue the search for funding to develop watershed plans and implementation efforts. Please see the attached files for the full watershed plans developed. Taylor Creek WRAS (PDF) |
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