Upper Rio San Antonio Watershed Restoration
Carson National Forest
- Restoration efforts were guided by the Watershed Based Plan (WBP) created through the New Mexico Environment Department Surface Water Quality Bureau (NMED SWQB) for the Rio San Antonio Watershed. This plan had been sitting since 2016 waiting for execution.
- We were able to utilize the CFLRP program to gain momentum and implement the plan.
- Phase 1 implementation includes six work areas from confluence of Lagunitas Creek and Rio San Antonio and extending downstream on the Rio San Antonio across two miles of stream.
- Includes instream, side channel, and floodplain projects that seek to reverse channel incision, increase floodplain access and deposition.
- Approximately 1.5 miles was completed of the two-mile planned Phase 1 in FY 2023
- Partners included Trout Unlimited, NM Department of Fish and Game and contracted with a local contractor Watershed Artisans.
Large woody debris structures on Lagunitas Creek combined with channel shaping and a point bar upstream to stabilize eroding banks, dramatically increases pool depth and habitat in the reach (photo by Craig Sponholz).
Constructed log jam on the Rio San Antonio splitting the river’s flow between current channel and abandoned side channel, providing increased sinuosity and floodplain connectivity (photo by Craig Sponholz).