River Source provides landscape assessment, site mapping, project design and build, plus monitoring the effectiveness of restoration work and community green team nurturing for long-term stewardship of ecological restoration sites. We have over 25 years of successfully working with tribes, ranchers, local and state agencies, and conservation and volunteer groups.
Watershed restoration involves a careful site assessment to prioritize restoration practices in places with a good prospect for success which really requires wholistic thinking. Building community skills and facilitating conversations among partners is just as important and the physical aspects of constructing a restoration project. Linking restoration projects to adjacent initiatives and leveraging resources/lessons learned is also critical for people to scale up work to landscape levels and make a greater impact for watershed resilience and adapting to climate change.
In some cases the area can benefit from revegetation such as pole planting with willows, river bank stabilization with wood posts or rocks, or revisioning and changing how land use occurs in the area with fencing. See our most recent pole planting guide for a “how to”.
Volunteer Opportunities as they Arise
Please join us April 30, 2022 at Ryan Yazzie’s land near the Penistaja Arroyo for a day of revegetation with native plants aimed to restore health to water corridors running towards Torreon Arroyo, a tributary to the Rio Puerco. Meet us at 10am at this location about 15 miles west of Cuba, New Mexico, on Saturday, April 30, 2022! For more info contact .
Stormwater harvesting experience & practice –
Our partners Aaron Kauffman of Southwest Urban Hydrology, have designed and implemented innovative bioretention basins in Santa Fe parking lots. Their work capitalizes on opportunities throughout the community to capture rainwater, utilize the water where it falls, and create a beautiful space that was previously underutilized and under appreciated. The image here by Paul Navrot shows how bioretention ponds can have numerous positive impacts for people and nature at the same time.
River Source is a member of the Rainwater Resource Partners, a Santa Fe-based collaborative.
Planning for Natural Resource Management experience & practice –
Working with Ecotone, River Source developed three open space management plans for Santa Fe County Open Space and Trails Program.
Monitoring for Success & Learning-
Monitoring of projects includes establishing benchmarks for success and pre / post project data collection on indicators such as photopoints and vegetation or geomorphology. River Source has ongoing monitoring work with schools, communities and clients at at least 25 sites throughout New Mexico.
Our partners
We are honored to have worked with several partners that excel in ecological restoration and community organizing to protect our rivers. They include:
Rio Puerco Alliance – https://www.riopuercoalliance.org/
Join us to help revegetate the Penistaja Arroyo, a big drainage in beautiful Dine land about 15 miles west of Cuba, NM. Click here for the flyer.
Santa Fe Watershed Association – https://www.santafewatershed.org/
Upper Pecos Watershed Association – https://www.pecoswatershed.org/
Quivira Coalition – https://www.quiviracoalition.org/
Abandoned Mine Land Program of New Mexico – https://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/MMD/AML/amlmain.html
Rio Grande Return – https://www.riograndereturn.com/
River Network – https://www.rivernetwork.org/
Conservation Education at NM Department of Game and Fish – https://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/education/index.htm
We also work with several contractors/businesses that do great work in water harvesting, river restoration, and erosion control. They are:
Craig Sponholtz of Watershed Artisans – https://watershedartisans.com/
Aaron Kauffman of Southwest Urban Hydrology – https://www.southwesturbanhydrology.com/
Van Clothier of Stream Dynamics – https://www.streamdynamics.us/
Steve Carson of Rangeland Hands – https://rangelandhands.com/
