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DEAR FRIENDS OF NEW MEXICO'S RIVERS AND WATERWAYS ~
In this issue, we bring you information about the Amigos Bravos March "Water Matters" Lecture, featuring writer, scholar, and on-the-ground and in-the-water scientist, Ellen Wohl, speaking about Beavers: Nature's Architects and Engineers - And Our Last Best Hope for Healthy Headwater Streams in the Face of Climate Change. Scroll down further for an update on our successful work to protect the Upper Rio Grande Watershed from the pollution seeping from the Molycorp/Chevron Mine. See also the link to a short video on the Amigos Bravos sponsored, Beautiful Midden project, bringing art to the interface of community, wilderness, and rivers.
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http://shop.amigosbravos.org/index.html
AMIGOS BRAVOS "WATER MATTERS" LECTURE IN SANTA FE FEATURES WRITER, SCHOLAR, AND ON-THE-GROUND AND IN-THE-WATER SCIENTIST, ELLEN WOHL
On the evening of Tuesday, March 19, at 5:30pm, at the Santa Fe Community Foundation, Amigos Bravos will offer the eighth in a year long lecture series on "Water Matters." The lectures are free to the public and feature some of the most knowledgeable and dynamic speakers in the region, including writers, scientists, poets, environmental activists, and scholars.
Amigos Bravos is delighted to present Professor Ellen Wohl, of the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University, speaking on Beavers: Architects and Engineers - Our Last Best Hope for Healthy Headwater Streams in the Face of Climate Change.
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Ellen Wohl
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Direct and indirect human modifications of headwater streams, wetlands, and wet meadows in the form of timber harvest, flow regulation, and beaver trapping have resulted in a loss of physical complexity and loss of the "sponge effect," which, in a healthy watershed, will retain water and release it slowly throughout the summer. Loss of physical complexity and the sponge effect has meant the drying of our fertile valleys. Beavers provide an excellent model for how to restore healthy headwater streams. Wohl will focus on a case study from Rocky Mountain National Park that applies to changes that have occurred from New England to the Pacific Northwest and from Florida to the Southwest, as well as in other countries.
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Ellen Wohl is a professor of geology at Colorado State University. Her research focuses on river form and process. Wohl received her PhD from the University of Arizona in 1988 and she has conducted field research on every continent except Antarctica. Much of her current work examines how historical changes in land use of the western US have simplified and homogenized rivers, resulting in a loss of biodiversity and ecosystem health. In addition to numerous technical papers, Wohl has written the non-technical books, Virtual Rivers (2001), Disconnected Rivers (2004), Of Rock and Rivers (2009), Island of Grass (2009), A World of Rivers (2011), and Wide Rivers Crossed (forthcoming).
To listen to an interview with Wohl, conducted by Mary-Charlotte Domandi, tune in to KSFR, Santa Fe Radio Cafe, on Tuesday morning, March 19, at 8:05am, MT, 101.1 FM. If you miss the interview and can't attend the lecture, google Santa Fe Radio Cafe, and write "Ellen Wohl" in the search box.
The Santa Fe Community Foundation is located between Old Santa Fe Trail and Acequia Madre, at the corner of Paseo de Peralta and Hanola. For more information, call 575-758-3874.
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AFTER DECADES OF PRESSURE FROM AMIGOS BRAVOS, CHEVRON MINE MOVES IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR RIVERS
On December 20, 2012, Chevron Mining Inc. hosted a meeting with Amigos Bravos and our mining consultants to propose operational changes at the Questa mining site.
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Jean Richards, Amigos Bravos Developing-Into-Something-Good Committee member
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Potential changes will allow for an early closure of the existing tailings facility and pipeline removal, while still allowing sustained mining operations. Following the construction of a 400 foot high embankment, up to 75 million tons of tailing waste will instead be deposited in the existing open pit on-site. This is preferable because it will eliminate the risk of pipeline ruptures and improve the landform of the open pit for final reclamation after mine closure. Chevron is also proposing to build a stormwater management system and water treatment facility to process stormwater, as well as contaminated water, from underground activities. This treated water will then be discharged into the Red River, enhancing seasonal flow and decreasing pollution from run-off, thereby improving the water quality of the river.
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Molycorp/Chevron Open Pit
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Chevron is proposing to implement these changes by the second quarter of 2015. Although the changes are very much over due (15 years), it is an encouraging sign that Chevron is proposing to close and reclaim the huge tailings facility in Questa. This action will potentially put a stop to water contamination from the tailings area to the Red River and Rio Grande. In addition, it will stop dry tailings from blowing into the community of Questa during high spring winds.
TO DONATE NOW! :
http://shop.amigosbravos.org/index.html
BEAUTIFUL MIDDEN PROJECT
The Beautiful Midden project is a collaborative arts initiative led by Scott Moore and a team of artists of various disciplines working with Amigos Bravos. Our mutual intention is to engage community efforts to transform the Rio Pueblo de Taos - nearby its confluence with the Rio Grande -from the end-of-the-road dump site it has become into a wildlife refuge for animals and humans, one that includes art-of-place and a recreational trailhead. For a glimpse of what we are up to, go to:
http://vimeo.com/60980088
TO DONATE NOW! :
http://shop.amigosbravos.org/index.html
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORT OF AMIGOS BRAVOS AND NEW MEXICO'S RIVERS & WATERWAYS!!!
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