My view: Time to rescue Santa Fe's endangered river

David Groenfeldt |

4/20/2008 - 4/20/08

The Santa Fe River has just finished its year of being "America's most endangered river," an annual designation bestowed by American Rivers, a national advocacy group. Being "most endangered" was a reminder that our dry river is more than an embarrassment; it's a glaring management failure that we are paying a huge and growing price for not fixing.

Unlike endangered species that take years and careful planning to rescue from extinction, our river could be rescued with a single City Council vote to allow some water to flow through our dams. It would cost nothing since we, the community of Santa Fe, already own the water. All we have to do is allocate that water differently, and give some of it back to the river.

This is the year to be bold and generous. Our reservoirs are full, our community has become skilled in finding creative ways to save water, and we are learning a hard lesson from global warming about the importance of keeping nature in good working order. Our river is a good test case for how well we are learning! If we could reverse the global rise in CO2 emissions with a 10 percent reduction in our own carbon footprint, we would jump at the opportunity to make things right at such a small cost. That's about what it will take to rescue our dead river. Give the river 10 percent of our total water use, and we can make things right. Now that's a pretty good deal!

Our river can and should be the heart of our community and the centerpiece of our water-supply strategy. The notion that we need to sacrifice our river to have water in our reservoirs is an outdated policy that most states and most countries abandoned years ago. Just as forest managers no longer advocate for total fire suppression, no properly educated river manager would today advocate for total flow suppression. Our future water security depends on storing water in our aquifers as much as in our reservoirs. A flowing river can recharge our aquifers, while providing millions of dollars in ecosystem services ranging from wildlife habitat to water purification to recreation. Imagine if we had to pay for all the benefits our river provides —- or could provide — free and naturally.

Many people don't realize that we, the citizens of Santa Fe, are the legal owners of almost all the water in the Santa Fe River. We have the power to rescue our river. Bringing our river back to life is the right thing to do, and fortunately, it is also a practical thing to do. We can easily save 10 percent more water — the equivalent of the flow we need for our river — through affordable conservation measures that do not noticeably affect our quality of life.

One way is through technology: replacing sprinklers with drip irrigation; installing rooftop water-catchment systems, installing low-flow showerheads, etc. Another way to save water is simply to use less of it: turning the water on more slowly, and off more quickly. With a flowing river as our incentive, I have no doubt that most Santa Feans will happily use less water. Indeed, our happiness will increase as we become engaged, through our own individual actions, in bringing our river back to life.

We have the power, the will, and this spring we have an unparalleled opportunity, to restore a living, flowing Santa Fe River. Talk to your friends and co-workers; e-mail or call your city councilors; Let's make this year the Year of the River!

David Groenfeldt, Ph.D is the executive director of the Santa Fe Watershed Association.