The results of this survey are listed below. SWQB does not guarantee the accuracy or current status of this information. Users should verify any questionable information with the listed contacts. If this list is inaccurate (or to add your group to our list), please contact the SWQB website liaison.

We conducted a survey of watershed groups working in New Mexico in February 1998. The survey was mailed to about 900 people and groups throughout New Mexico, soliciting the following information:   If you are organized into a group, what is your group's name? Who is the contact person? Please include name, address, telephone, fax, and e-mail. If your group has a WWW home page, would you like us to hot-link to it (please provide your URL)? How many active and inactive members are in your group? Is your group concerned about a particular geographic area (a certain watershed or region)? What is your group's mission? Please describe what aspect of watersheds your group addresses. Does your group focus on other issues not related to watersheds? Please briefly describe recent work or activities your group has undertaken.

Name: Acequia Madre de San Antonio Community Ditch Association
Contact: Gary Hefkin, PO Box 626, Cedar Crest, New Mexico 87008
Membership: 45
Geographic area: near Cedar Crest
Mission:

To maintain a working ancient acequia (organized prior to 1851). Protecting riparian area and the contributing watershed area.

Cooperative management of Ojito de San Antonio Open Space, with Bernalillo County Parks & Recreation.  Community activism by increasing awareness of resources.  Maintaining ancient acequia system.

Name: Amigos Bravos--Friends of Wild Rivers
 

Contact: Brian Shields, PO Box 238, Taos, New Mexico 87571 Membership: 4 staff, 9 directors, 600 members Geographic area: Primarily Rio Grande and tributaries in New Mexico. Mission:

To return the Rio Grande watershed and New Mexico's rivers to drinkable quality wherever possible, and to contact quality everywhere else; to see that natural flows are maintained and where those flows have been disrupted by human intervention, to see that they are regulated to protect and reclaim the river ecosystem by approximating natural flows, while maintaining environmentally sound, sustainable practices of indigenous cultures. Amigos Bravos holds that environmental justice and social justice go hand in hand. Amigos Bravos is committed to preventing the destruction of threatened and endangered species of flora and fauna and wildlife habitat.

Name: Bosque Hydrology Group
Contact: Paul Tashijian, US Fish and Wildlife, P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103-1306
Membership: 35
Geographic area: Middle Rio Grande
Mission:

To acquire, compile, and synthesize hydro-biological data concerning the understanding and restoration of the Rio Grande Bosque.

Flood modeling, salinity and vegetation data, restoration techniques, salt cedar removal, bosque mapping, GIS synthesis.

Name: Bosque Preparatory School Contact: Dan Shaw or Cathy Ruhl Bosque Prep School 8300 Phoenix NE Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110

Educate students in basic science while they gain a sense of place related to their home watershed. Monitor a dozen physical, chemical, and biological parameters monthly. Students research related topics like watershed use.

Linked with NM Game and Fish Watershed Watch and Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program. Participated in watershed restoration projects. Host outreach activities where students share their watershed knowledge.

Name: Caballo Soil and Water Conservation District
Contact: Hector Mendoza, 2101 S. Broadway, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico 87901
Membership: 7 board members
Geographic area: 1 million acres along Hatch Valley
Mission:  Work with land owners with natural resource concerns, such as flooding, sediment control and erosion.
Activities: Maintain 19 watershed structures, mostly 40 years old.

Name: Carrizo Valley Watershed Group
Contact: Sid Goodloe, Box 598, Capitan, New Mexico 88316
Membership: 7
Geographic area: Piñon-juniper/ponderosa ecosystems, Lincoln County
Mission:

Education and awareness of degraded condition of watersheds due to invasion of water hungry plants that cause erosion and aquifer depletion.

Name: Cedar Hill Clean Water Coalition
Contact: Jake Hottell, 83 Rd 3004, Aztec, New Mexico 87410
Membership: 25
Geographic area: Animas River, San Juan County
Mission: Impacts from Animas-LaPlata Project, land farms, oil/gas, and other industry.
Activities: Collecting and disseminating information about these impacts.

Name: Chaves County Flood Commission
Contact: Richard Smith, Box 1817, Roswell, New Mexico 88202-1817
Membership: Funded by property taxes in Chaves County
Geographic area: Chaves County
Mission:  To drain flood water through the county to prevent property damage and loss of life.
Activities:

Pecos River Riverine Habitat and channel capacity study. Rio Hondo stream channel maintenance. Rio Felix channel improvement (between US Highway 285 and NM Highway 2).

Name: City of Albuquerque, Open Space Division
Contact: Ondrea Linderoth, PO Box 1293, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103
Membership: 3-5 full time staff
Geographic area: Rio Grande Valley State Park (Rio Grande from Sandia to Isleta Pueblos).
Mission:

To protect natural and cultural resources while providing public amenities. Other open space that does not contain watersheds are also preserved and protected.

Name: Committee to Save the Rio Hondo
Contact: Andy Romero, P.O. Box 427, Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico 87513
Membership: 30 active, 50 inactive
Geographic area: Rio Hondo and Taos Ski Valley
Mission: Monitor and watchdog the US Forest Service.
Activities:  Litigation against Forest Service and Taos Ski Valley for cummulative effects of summer lifts.

Name: Culebra Coalition
Contact: Prax Ortega, P.O. Box 3, San Luis, Colorado 81152
Membership: 100
Geographic area: Upper Rio Grande, Culebra watershed
Mission: Preserve, protect, and network to save remaining watershed.
Activities: 40 year effort with Taylor Ranch, Sangre de Cristo Land Grant.

Name: Earth Works Institute, Galisteo Watershed Restoration Project

Currently: to establish a citizen's group dedicated to restoring and sustaining the Galisteo Watershed (and its forests, grasslands, soils, riparian areas, fisheries, fauna and flora) and serving as a model for similar watershed restoration efforts in the Southwest.

Studying Galisteo Watershed dynamics and history. Mapping watershed boundaries (including internal boundaries). Linking to government agencies and landowners. Meeting with landowners (Canoncito, 2/7/98). School programs (field education and restoration work, summer 1997).

Name: Forest Guardians Contact: John Horning, 1413 Second St Suite 1, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 Membership: 2,000

Rio Grande, Colorado River, Rio Puerco, the southern Rockies (San Juans, Sangre de Cristos, Jemez), the Mogollon Rim, Grand Canyon, and Gila watershed.

To protect and restore the native biological diversity and watersheds of the American southwest and northern Mexico. We strive to: educate and enlist citizens to support protection of the forests, rivers, deserts, and grasslands of this arid region, advocate principles of conservation biology in plans to restore degraded ecosystems and watersheds, enforce and strengthen environmental laws, support communities to protect their land.

Name: Middle Rio Grande Conservation District
Contact: Sterling Grogan, P.O. Box 581, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103
Membership: 11,000
Geographic area: Cochiti to Elephant Butte
Mission:  Irrigation, drainage, flood control, protection of riparian forest, sustainable agriculture, farmland preservation.
Activities:

Since 1923 we have supported agriculture, protected riparian areas. Now we are participating in endangered species recovery, cooperating in an experimental flooding project for riparian restoration, and starting a fuels reduction program for wildfire prevention in the riparian forest.

Name: The Nature Conservancy of New Mexico Contact: Patrick McCarthy, Director of Stewardship                 212 E. Marcy St., Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505;                 (505) 988-1542, ext. 217; (505) 988-4095 (FAX) Geographic area: Southwestern New Mexico

Watershed protection in the Gila and Mimbres River Watersheds

Name:New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts Contact: Debbie Hughes, 163 Trail Canyon Road, Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220 Membership: 47 Soil and Water Conservation Districts Geographic area: Everywhere Mission: The Mission of the Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) is to work with people and partners in New Mexico to care for the land.

Explore Our Website!  Our state association hosts watershed tours and promotes projects and programs that will encourage and facilitate watershed restoration.  The SWCDs work directly with landowners and agencies to install Best Management Practices in the watersheds.  Districts are currently conducting projects statewide through cooperative agreements with landowners.

Name:New Mexico Citizens for Clean Air and Water Contact: Donald A. Neeper, 2708 Walnut Street, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544 Membership: About 100 Geographic area: Everywhere Mission: Protection of air and water from pollution (especially air pollution).

Name: New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, Regional Water Planning Program

Contact: Mary Helen Follingstad, PO Box 25102, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504 Membership: 16 water planning regions with steering committees Geographic area: State of New Mexico

Mission:

To assure water resources planning is regional in scope and preserves and protects water resources for future generations. Water supply and demand assessments are balanced with various alternatives for conservation, public welfare, and development.

Name: New Mexico Riparian Council Contact: Bill Zeedyk, P.O. Box 582, Sandia Park, New Mexico 87047 Membership: 50 active, 100 inactive Geographic area: Concentrated in Albuquerque area, but concerned with all watersheds in New Mexico.

To promote continual survival, maintenance, and enhancement of riparian ecosystems in New Mexico for the benefit of present and future generations.

Name: New Mexico Water Dialogue
Contact: Lucy Moore, Rt. 9 Box 81-A, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505
Membership: 25 active, 2300 receive newsletter
Geographic area: State of New Mexico
Mission:  Preserve and protect water resources for the future through community-based, open, inclusive water planning.
Activities:

Produce newsletter (Dialogue) three times per year. Offer updates on water-related legislation. Hold annual statewide meetings on specific issues for water planners. Assist state water planning efforts to be inclusive and representative of all interests.

Name: Open Space Alliance
Contact: Ondrea Linderoth, 12050 Candelaria NE #27, Albuquerque New Mexico 87112
Membership: 15 active, 60 inactive
Geographic area: Rio Grande State Park
Mission:

To support the Open Space Division in its goals and mission. Currently working on concrete/asphalt removal in the State Park and on March for Parks.

Name: Pajarito Plateau Watershed Partnership
Contact: June Fabryka-Martin, PPWP Co-chair, 2003-2004
                465 Grand Canyon, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544
                E-Mail:  info@ppwatershed.org
Membership: 10 active, 30 inactive
Geographic area: Pajarito Plateau from Santa Clara Creek to Cochiti Reservoir
Mission:

To have jurisdictional agencies work together with each other and with local community volunteers to protect, preserve and restore the quality of water in the Pajarito Plateau watershed. Our group is currently focusing on developing and implementing stormwater management and erosion control measures on private and public lands in Los Alamos County, initially focusing on the Pueblo and Rendija Canyon watersheds which were hard hit by the Cerro Grande wildfire in 2000.

Activities:

Currently partially funded by a Section 319 grant. Activities include revegetating the burned forest understory with seed balls and tree seedlings, planting riparian vegetation along watercourses, rebuilding trails with water diversion structures to decrease erosion, presenting water quality education programs to the public and in local public schools, and collecting monitoring data on the health of watersheds.  Explore our website!

Name: Quivira Coalition Contact: Courtney White, 551 Cordova Road, PMB 423 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 Membership: 500 members Geographic area: New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado Mission:

To define the core issues of the grazing conflict and to articulate a new position based on common interests and common sense.  The purpose of the Quivira Coalition is to teach ranchers, environmentalists, public land managers, and other members of the public that ecologically healthy rangeland and economically robust ranches can be compatible.

Name: Rio Grande Restoration Contact: Steve Harris, Box 3-C, Pilar, New Mexico 87531 Membership: 6 trustees, 2 staff, about 25 volunteers Geographic area: Rio Grande basin Mission: To foster the return of the Rio Grande to health by supplying an improved flow regime of high quality water.

Name: The Rio Puerco Management Committee

Contact: Charna Lefton or Mike Ford

Rio Puerco watershed from headwaters (Nacimiento Mountains north of Cuba) to confluence with Rio Grande (Bernardo).

Erosion and sediment reduction, vegetarian and riparian recovery, collaborative watershed restoration goals and projects, development of Best Management Practices, comunity partnerships and environmental education.

Outreach to communities and stakeholders in the Rio Puerco Watershed. Development of a shared vision of a healthy watershed. Criteria for project proposal funding and best management practices. Work with NM Highway & Trans to address erosion and sedimentation caused by channelization. Sharing technical/professional resources and data.

Name: Ruidoso River Association, Inc. Contact: Dick Wisner, PO Box 2845, Ruidoso, New Mexico 88355 Membership: 575 Geographic area: Rio Ruidoso and its tributaries Mission: To preserve and protect a healthy and free-flowing Rio Ruidoso. Our group is working to improve both the quality and quantity of water in the Rio Ruidoso and restore a high quality cold water fishery designation.

Won a $200,000 CWA 319 grant. Installed stream ecology into elementary and high schools. Got local officials to build dam leakage pumpback. Got local officials to vary reservoir levels to increase instream flow in Rio Ruidoso.  Explore our Website!

Name: San Juan Water Users Association

Contact: Gary Hathorn, 213A South Oliver, Aztec, New Mexico 87410
Membership: 37 ditch associations
Geographic area: San Juan, Animas, and LaPlata Rivers
Mission:  To keep the membership abreast of water issues affecting them and their water rights, and lobby on their behalf.
Activities: Public meeting on 1975 Adjudication and Jicarilla Apache Water Suit.

Name: Santa Fe Watershed Association Contact: Janine V. Johnston, 1413 Second Street, Suite C, Santa Fe,  New Mexico 87505.  505.820.1696. Mailing address:  P.O. Box 31160, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87594-1160. Membership: 40-80 Geographic area: Watershed of Santa Fe River Mission:  The Santa Fe Watershed Association is a non-profit corporation founded in the summer of 1997 with the mission of “bringing the Santa Fe River back to life; restoring the heart to our community.”

Activities: We’re concerned with the whole 285 square miles of the Santa Fe River watershed, from its headwaters in the Pecos Wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, to the confluence of the Santa Fe River with the Rio Grande at Cochiti Pueblo.  We care about the people in that landscape, too, and how we can find common ground on natural resource management issues, balancing demand and supply, rights and justice and sustainability.  Explore our website!

Name: Southwest Environmental Center
Contact: Kevin Bixby, 1494A S. Solano Dr., Las Cruces, New Mexico 88001
Membership: 1000
Geographic area: Lower Rio Grande (New Mexico and Texas)
Mission:

To restore and protect the Southwest's natural heritage. For the Rio Grande, we focus on advocacy, public education, restoration planning and hands-on projects, such as tree plantings.

Name: Sierra Soil and Water Conservation District
Contact: Rick Carr, 2101 S Broadway, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico 87901
Membership: 7 board members
Geographic area:

2 million acres south of San Marcial to Caballo Dam, east to White Sands Missile Range, west to Grant County line.

Working with Truth or Consequences to acquire easements necessary to build a $14M flood control structure. Sponsored a similar structure in 1981 in Williamsburg.

Name:     Student Ecology Research Program (SERP) Contact: Rebecca Salem, Coordinator, 1801 Mountain Road NW, Albuquerque 87105  Membership: We work with approximately 12-15 schools around the state every year, but we are not a  membership-based organization. Geographic area: We have many projects that are focused on the Middle Rio Grande, but we are a statewide program monitoring rivers throughout New Mexico. Mission: SERP combines the missions of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science with that of NM MESA (New Mexico Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement) to provide students throughout the state with more opportunities to learn about and understand ecosystems, local natural history, and the importance of good water quality.

Our curriculum uses math and science skills the students already have to expand their knowledge of field ecology, teaching them how to assess the health of their ecosystems in basic terms.  Specific activities include chemical and biological water quality assessment, vegetation type, percent cover and abundance, insect diversity and weather monitoring.  All of our programs use streams and rivers as the focus of the field studies.

This summer we are working with schools in Gallup, Zuni, Cochiti Pueblo, Jemez Pueblo, Santa Clara Pueblo, Albuquerque, Isleta Pueblo, Belen, Santa Rosa, Pecos, Las Vegas, Roswell, and Hurley.  Our projects in these areas vary from place to place.
Explore our Website!

Name: Taos Pueblo Environmental Office Contact: Tammie L. Mirabal, Website Developer Geographic area: Approximately 98,000-acre reservation in the Upper Rio Grande Watershed. Mission: Taos Pueblo Environmental Office was established to protect and preserve the lands and waterways of our traditional Northern New Mexico homelands. Comprised of four tribal members, we're primarily interested in water quality, and specifically concentrate our efforts in biological monitoring. The office also manages two grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: an Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response grant and an EPA-GAP, which is used specifically for Global Information System (GIS) support.

Name: Tierra Y Montes Soil and Water Conservation District  Pecos Watershed Association
Contact: Wendy Easton, 1926 Seventh St, Las Vegas, New Mexico 87701; (505) 425-0560, FAX 454-0560
Membership: SWCD 6; Pecos Watershed Association over 20
Geographic area: Gallinas River and Upper Pecos River watersheds, San Miquel County
Mission:

To take available technical, financial, and educational resources, whatever their source, and focus or coordinate them so that they meet the needs of the local land user for conservation of soil, water, and related resources.

We work on riparian and upland areas on private and public lands.  We conduct educational programs in Pecos, West Las Vegas and Las Vegas City Schools.  We also work on agricultural conservation.

Name: Tularosa Basin Water Resources Committee
Contact: Eddie Vigil, 1711 Bookout Rd, Tularosa, New Mexico 88352
Membership:  Five agencies, Mescalero Apache Tribe, ranchers and farmers (20 active members)
Geographic area: Tularosa Basin
Mission:  Watershed restoration activities related to water quality and quantity. Also forest health issues.
Activities:  Applying for 319 funding, meeting to share resources, ideas, and include the public.

Name: Upper Gila Watershed Alliance Contact: Stephen O. MacDonald, P.O. Box 383, Gila, New Mexico 88038 Membership: 40 Households Geographic area: Upper Gila watershed Mission: To preserve the integrety of the Gila River. Activities:  Explore Our Website!

Name: Watershed Watch (sponsored by New Mexico Department of Game and Fish) Contact: Bill Fleming, 901 Trail Cross, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 Rich Schrader, 1803 Agua Fria, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 Membership: 18 teachers and their students Geographic area: State of New Mexico

Monthly water quality monitoring in over 16 watersheds, watershed education for middle and high school students, mapping watersheds, sharing data with watershed residents and resource professionals.

Workshop on identifying and biotic index calculation methods on benthic macroinvertebrates. Annual gathering of students and teachers to present data and interpretations.

Please remember, if this list is inaccurate (or to add your group to the list), please contact the SWQB website liaison.