Gov. Bill Richardson announced Tuesday that he will pursue special protection for more than 5,000 miles of rivers and streams in wilderness and roadless areas in New Mexico.

Richardson joins the Santa Fe-based WildForest Guardians in asking the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission to designate 5,340 miles of the state's waters as Outstanding National Resource Waters under the Federal Clean Water Act. Many are headwater streams that feed the Rio Grande and its tributaries, which Albuquerque, and eventually Santa Fe, will depend on for drinking water.

Waters in national or state parks, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, special trout waters and ones that have exceptional recreational or ecological value qualify for the federal designation. Conservationists and sportsmen advocated and won the designation for waters in the Valle Vidal in the last couple of years. The designation protects waters from degradation and helps garner federal funding for restoration projects.

The designation doesn't affect existing activities such as ranching or forest thinning as long as good management is used and the activities do not degrade the water. New land uses are allowed only if they do not degrade water quality by causing erosion or pollution.

Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, Las Placitas Association officials and the Santa Fe Watershed Association have written letters supporting the protection for area streams.

Coss said in a Feb. 28 letter to Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry that the designation would protect both the Santa Fe River, which feeds the city's reservoirs, and the Rio Grande, from which the city's planned Buckman Direct Diversion project will draw water. The outstanding waters designation "will contribute significantly to the permanent protection of a sizable portion of the city's municipal water supply," he said.

Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.