New Mexico proposes northern waterway protections

The state Water High quality Management Fee on Tuesday thought-about a petition to designate 125 miles of northern New Mexico rivers and streams as Excellent Nationwide Useful resource Waters.

New Mexico’s Out of doors Recreation Division proposed the designation, which might prohibit new actions and tasks from degrading water high quality.

If authorised, protected river segments would come with:

• Rio Grande from the New Mexico-Colorado state line to the confluence with Rio Pueblo de Taos
• Rio Hondo headwaters to the Carson Nationwide Forest boundary
• Lake Fork headwaters to the confluence with the Rio Hondo
• East Fork Jemez River headwaters to the confluence with San Antonio Creek
• San Antonio Creek headwaters to the confluence with East Fork Jemez River and
• Redondo Creek headwaters to the confluence with Sulphur Creek

Out of doors Recreation director Axie Navas mentioned the state desires to work with communities to advertise sustainable progress of New Mexico’s out of doors economic system.

“That may solely occur if these areas the place individuals recreate and entry our stunning lands and waters are protected,” Navas mentioned.

The nominated waters are “wonderful rivers” that deserve safety, mentioned Nick Streit, who owns Taos Fly Store and The Reel Life in Santa Fe.

Streit’s companies bought greater than $100,000 in fishing licenses final 12 months.

“On the Rio Grande, we’ve got 50 miles of the canyon to fish, most of which is accessed solely by foot site visitors, so we nonetheless are in a position to have a complete solitude wilderness expertise down there with extraordinarily prime quality of fly-fishing — actually good brown trout and rainbow trout populations,” he mentioned.

The waterways embody stretches throughout the Río Grande del Norte Nationwide Monument and Valles Caldera Nationwide Protect.

Joanna Hatt, a local fish biologist with New Mexico Sport and Fish, mentioned the proposed protected areas have “excessive biodiversity and superior potential for conserving” uncommon wildlife species.

A designation wouldn’t influence present farming and ranching.

The proposal factors out that the majority regional livestock grazing happens away from or downstream of the proposed designated river stretches.

The fee can also be contemplating an ONRW designation for 180 miles of the Higher Pecos River and its tributaries.

The panel will decide on each designations at its July 12 assembly.