Projects
Capital Outlay - Dam Restoration
Project Overview: The Otero SWCD proposes to extend the useful life of the three Upper Penasco Dams and address required maintenance issues. The dams were built in 1960 to contain a 25-year frequency storm with a 50-year life span. Working in conjunction with the US Forest Service (the dams are on forest service lands) we will hire a contractor(s) to bring the dam to near as-built condition. Phase one is complete. Work will resume after monsoon season.
Watershed Restoration
Small dams can be temporary or permanent; they are constructed across a drainage ditch, swale, or channel to lower the speed of concentrated flows for a certain design range of storm events. A dam can be built from wood logs, stone, pea gravel-filled sandbags or bricks and cement. Slow runoff speeds will reduce erosion as well as gully erosion in the channel and allows the sediment to establish.
Erosion Control Structure DiagramSmall Conservation Projects—Cost Share Program
Otero SWCD has a cost share program for small conservation projects. Any landowner addressing a natural resource concern, who can prove the ownership or lease on land within the Otero SWCD boundary and is a current Otero SWCD cooperator may apply.
Small Conservation Project ApplicationNM Bureau of Geology/NM Tech Projects
Sacramento Mountain Safety Brochure
