Bob Parmenter, the Valles Caldera Trust's Chief Scientist, has requested help "Armoring" new creek flumes. This work will be on the Western side of the Preserve in an area that is less visited by the public. Please consider joinining us on October 25th for a fun day working on the Preserve.
Here is the info Bob sent to us detailing the work day:
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I thought I’d give you a little background on the flume project. I’ve installed a number of flumes and gauging stations on the major streams leaving the VCNP so that we can monitor stream water production. Our collaborating hydrology scientists with the Center for Sustainability of semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (SAHRA, based at the University of Arizona, but including many scientists at UNM, NM Tech, and NM State U.) have determined that the Jemez Mountains watersheds lose approximately 50% of the water in the winter snowpack through sublimation, particularly due to the high density of trees in the second-growth forests that intercept falling snow before it reaches the ground. Much of this snow sublimates (evaporates) and is lost to the atmosphere, and therefore does not enter our hydrologic cycle in the VCNP.
As the Trust develops forest management plans and begins thinning projects and prescribed/natural fire use, we expect that more of the snow will be able to reach the ground and be shaded by the remaining trees, thereby increasing the amount of water available during spring snowmelt. This “extra” snowmelt water can assist with filling downstream reservoirs, and be available for agriculture, ranching, and human uses in the Jemez Valley and the Rio Grande Valley. But we need to measure just how much water is being produced before and after the management treatments given a certain amount of winter snowpack (models are being developed by the SAHRA hydrologists working in the VCNP). Hence, the need for the flumes and stream gauges.
We’ve installed a flume on Sulphur Creek this summer, and it’s been operational for a couple of months now. However, we still need to “armor” the stream bank upstream from the flume to prevent spring flooding from eroding around the side of the flume. This will involve placing rocks along the stream bank for approximately 30 feet up from the flume. We’ll collect the rocks from the roadside in Sulphur Canyon, and move them the short distance down to the stream bank. We’ll also need to re-vegetate the soil berm on either side of the flume, so that riparian plants can help stabilize the banks – we will clip seeds from the existing native plants nearby and plant them in the soil on the berms, and cover them with burlap to keep everything in place until the seeds germinate next spring. I’ve attached a photo (see above) of the Redondo Creek flume that’s all finished now, so folks can get some idea of what these look like.
I have all the equipment and supplies (wheelbarrows, pick-up truck, topsoil, shovels, burlap, clippers), so all we need now is some volunteer labor! I think that 8 – 10 people (4 – 5 teams of two people each) can knock this out in a few of hours. Due to the elk hunts that will be going on, we’ll have to do this between 9 AM and 3 PM (shouldn’t be a problem).
For those coming up from Albuquerque through Jemez Springs, we will meet at the Trust office (in Jemez Springs) around 9 AM, and then drive up and meet folks coming from the other direction (Los Alamos, Santa Fe) at the Sulphur Springs road intersection with Highway 4 about 9:30 or so. Then we can all go in together to the flume site.
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Please RSVP mailto:info@losamigosdevallescaldera.orgif you would like to spend some time in a beautiful part of the Valles Caldera and help out with this important project. (You can also call Greg Kendall (505)412-3843 for more information.)
Maps:
Sulfur Springs Road.
Map from Albuquerque to the Valles Caldera Trust Jemez Office.
Address: 18161 Highway 4
Jemez Springs, NM 87025
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An addition volunteer opportunity has popped up:
From Bob Parmenter, Chief Scientist VCNP:
As you know, the livestock are being shipped out of the Valle Grande this week, and my field crew will be going out into the Valle Grande to collect the last of the forage utilization plots (clip plots with exclosures) on Monday, Oct. 6th (next week). There are nine plots left to do, and they’ll split up into 2 teams to do 4 and 5 plots respectively. If they could get a couple of volunteers to help clip and bag grass, and move the exclosures, that would help them out on getting it done in one day, and would provide a great opportunity for some folks to visit all over the Valle Grande and see first-hand the monitoring system of forage production and utilization by elk and livestock. We’d meet up at the Valle Grande staging area (the welcome buildings) at 8:30 AM, and be finished by around 4:30 PM on Monday. I realize this is somewhat late notice, and it’s a weekday, so perhaps folks can’t cut loose to come up, but I thought we’d at least ask and see if anyone was interested in the opportunity.
Send a note to info@losamigosdevallescaldera.org if your interested in helping out.
Thanks,
-Greg
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