By the time you read this article, the Taos Branch will be ready to begin training volunteers to monitor water quality in our local streams under the auspices of the National Sierra Club Water Sentinels program. Since receiving word that our grant proposal was accepted in June, we’ve met with National Water Sentinels Director Scott Dye, and under his tutelage have begun to research accredited labs, develop our budget, and select key sites along the Rios Hondo, Pueblo and Fernando for periodic and storm water monitoring. Our goals are to protect and preserve water quality in Taos, and our mission is to do so by involving local youth and grassroots community organizations.
Community organizations already on board include Rivers and Birds, whose environmental youth-education initiatives dovetail closely with our goals (last year alone the National Water Sentinels engaged 13,400 youths in water monitoring activities), and Amigos Bravos, whose credibility and legal expertise will ensure that the data we collect goes to good use. Roberta Salazar and Elsbeth Atencio (of Rivers and Birds) are working with Taos Sierra Club volunteers Eric Patterson and Annouk Ellis to set up a program whereby local students will be trained to collect water samples by the end of September. Rachel Conn (of Amigos Bravos) is helping us identify the most important water quality variables to measure in our area. These may include temperature, sediment, and e-coli bacteria, as well as pollution from PCBs, pharmaceuticals, personal care products and nutrients (from fertilizers, for example) that cause algal blooms that kill fish and cause other health hazards. In recent weeks, the New Mexico Environmental Department has expressed a keen interest in using our data, giving all the more impetus to getting Water Sentinels in Taos underway.
Another exciting development is a new coalition with a local group whose primary concern is a proposed bypass, touted as the solution to Taos traffic woes, but irresponsibly designed so as to likely destroy some of our most beautiful and pristine area wetlands. The organization that is fighting this ill-conceived traffic relief proposal is aptly named "Taoseños for Real Traffic Relief," and two of its representatives, Barbara Sheppard and Jean-Vi Lenthe, attended our July Activist Planning Potluck.
Pictured on the right are local volunteers including Annouk Ellis (standing), a contingent from Santa Fe (including Norma McCallan and Richard Kristin), as well as a representative from Taoseños for Real Traffic Relief, Jean-Vi Lenthe, seated at the table and looking into the camera on your right. The photograph is by Barbara Sheppard.
Sierra Club member and citizen activist Jean-Vi Lenthe writes, "A rebellion has broken out in Taos. Locals refer to it as The Sagebrush Rebellion, and it’s spreading like wildfire through the dry grass roots of this legendary mountain-getaway town. The cause? A proposed four-lane elevated highway system, part of which slashes right through fertile green farm and ranch lands as well as bosque/wetlands that give Taos its uniquely open, bucolic landscape."
Why is the Taos Sierra Club concerned? Suzanne Wollter (retired Taos educator and Professor Emerita, Sonoma State University) who has joined this "rebellion" writes, "A number of acequias cross this agricultural corridor, and it is dotted with natural springs. It is a flyway for an incredible number of bird species who use the water and wetlands for migration and nesting. During the drought, these wetlands have become even more crucial for birds and animals, including bald eagles that now winter over there. Many local families help supplement their incomes by raising cows and horses and farming on these lands. A highway bisecting this corridor would begin a process of disintegration that would destroy one of the historical ranch and farm areas that help give Taos its rural character…."
Through coalitions with groups such as Taoseños for Real Traffic Relief, Rivers and Birds and Amigos Bravos, Rios de Taos Sentinels can help preserve healthy rivers and ensure our quality of life. “Nuestra Acequia, Nuestra Vida” – Water is Life! And we are so pleased to report that through our local Water Sentinels program, so many people and organizations are coming together to protect our beautiful landscape and maintain a responsible and sustainable, uniquely Taos way of life.
For further information or to join our coalition, please contact Eric Patterson