Water harvesting curb cut construction

Stream Dynamics, Inc. created another Water Harvesting Curb cut on city property in front of Silver City councilor Polly Cook's house. Stream Dynamics thanks Polly for her support and willingness to host a demonstration project in front of her house!

Using concrete saw to cut curb for water harvesting

Van Clothier making one of the initial cuts.

Removing concrete from cut

Thin slabs are easily removed with a rock hammer.

Smoothing curb cut with diamond saw

Having worked extensively on the local skate park a few years ago, Skippy is a master of concrete work. Here he is doing the final shaping of the water harvesting diversion. It must have the right shape to catch the most water.

Using grinder to finishing shaping and smoothing curb cut

Final smoothing of the curb cut with a grinder.

Finished water harvesting curb cut

Water Harvesting diversion curb cut is complete and now the water holding basin needs to be dug.

If you would like us to help you take advantage of water flows on your street give Stream Dynamics a call at 575.590.0549. Or you can contact us through this site.

Ruidoso High School Wetlands Project Update

Before, during and after photos of the newly constructed wetlands at Ruidoso High School, built by Stream Dynamics in June and July of this year. Bog Springs Creek and a wetlands are now on High School property and incorporated into the previously existing Entrance Park.

Before the project the Creek flowed in a ditch on the other side of Warrior Drive to upper right of the photo.

Here comes the water! At this point, the wetland has been excavated, shaped, and a boulder waterfall has been constructed (water just released into new wetland photo).

After many rains and floods, the new wetland is really starting to build its ecology.

This project incorporates water harvesting from the school buildings and parking areas to slow down stormwater runoff and make it soak into the ground before going into the creek. This arrangement now cleans the water, irrigates the landscaping at the school, reduces downstream flooding, improves riparian habitat, lowers water temperature and improves base flow.

*Bottom 2 photos by John Mulcahy, Mayor of Truth or Consequences, NM.

Water harvesting basin in actionWetland restoration in progress (Photo by John Mulcahy)Newly constructed wetlandBog Springs Creek Before

Putting the Kinks Back in Streams

Photo by Nathan Jackson - A white-tailed deer doe and fawn stop for a mid-day drink in Aravaipa Creek less than a half-mile downstream from Cobra Ranch.By Nathan Jackson (originally appeared in the Southwest Environment, a publication of the University of Arizona)

A white-tailed deer doe and fawn stop for a mid-day drink in Aravaipa Creek less than a half-mile downstream from Cobra Ranch. Photo by Nathan Jackson A white-tailed deer doe and fawn stop for a mid-day drink in Aravaipa Creek less than a half-mile downstream from Cobra Ranch. At The Nature Conservancy’s Cobra Ranch in southeastern Arizona, Van Clothier led a band of volunteers from both the U.S. and Mexico in a project to restore Stowe Gulch, a streambed that is dry most of the year but flows into Aravaipa Creek a few times a year during rain events.

On a brisk October morning, about a dozen volunteers from the Tucson-based Sky Island Alliance and the Cananea Institute of Technology just across the border gathered around area maps while stream restoration expert Van Clothier and Mark Haberstich, preserve manager, explained the natural history of the creek and surrounding land.

Cobra Ranch resides right at the mouth of Aravaipa River, where year-round water flowed higher up the canyon as recently as 50 years ago, said Haberstich, who managed the TNC’s neighboring Aravaipa Canyon Preserve since 1996 and Cobra Ranch since 2007. The previous owner, Dan Bates, donated the ranch to TNC under the condition that the land becomes part of the Aravaipa Canyon Reserve.

A damaged stream Decades of cattle overgrazing and roads running across the creek bed contributed to stream damage, Clothier said.

When we got it, there wasn’t a lot of perennial grass on the ranch and there were a lot of erosion problems,” said Haberstich, “Almost all of the tributary canyons coming into Aravaipa Canyon had erosion problems and had become channelized.

Since then, TNC reduced livestock grazing from about 150 to 20 head of cattle– while placing primary focus on restoring the land.

Photo by Chang You. Used with permission - Volunteers use an auger to break up soil.Volunteers use an auger to break up soil. On this October day, through the cooperation of non-profit groups, agency employees and volunteers, Stowe Gulch took its first step towards returning to a natural, winding and healthy stream. After evaluating the water system, Clothier determined that this would require putting some of the kinks back in the stream. The goal was to do this by installing in-stream creek deflectors to direct the stream flow.

This basically consisted of digging dozens of holes in strategic locations determined by Clothier, who painted a wedge-shaped grid in the sand to serve as guidelines for the location of posts that would soon become deflectors.

The drive motor of the mechanical auger provided by BLM fired up. Under the instruction of Clothier and BLM volunteer Jeff Conn, volunteers used the auger to create pilot holes in the sand. The auger proved helpful to break up the soil but inevitably the sand fell back into place after removing the auger bit.

The remainder of volunteers picked up their shovels and dug out the holes as the auger progressed down the row. The sand tended to fall back into the holes as the shovel handles brushed the edge at greater depths, requiring the volunteers to remove the last of the loose material by hand. How deep to go?

"Volunteers clean sand from the holes to prepare them for the juniper posts.“As deep as you can reach to clean out with your arm,” said Conn as he laid belly down to clean the sand from a hole.

Cooperative efforts The Bureau of Land Management and TNC have worked together in co-management of Aravaipa Creek. Haberstich said a study by Neuman and Adar in 1983 estimated Stowe Gulch drainage area contributed about 40 percent of the water flow to the headwaters of Aravaipa Creek.

Arizona is quite dry during most of the year and relies on sporadic heavy rains for most of its water. During these heavy rain events, even streams that are dry the rest of the year can experience heavy streamflow. Clothier said that the posts must be deeply seated, with holes at least 3 feet deep. Otherwise the force behind the water flow would wash them away after debris collected in the baffle.

Volunteers placed juniper posts in each hole and the packed dirt around them. The posts will collect debris and sediment over time. They will serve as a skeleton, in effect, Photo by Nathan Jackson  Volunteers put the final touches on a nearly finished section of the creek deflector project.providing a support system for the meandering stream bank that will develop.

Van Clothier demonstrates proper post seating depth. These new sections of bank alternating from one side of the channel to the other along the stream will increase the sinuosity to a more natural state. Sinuosity, as defined by Clothier in his book, is the “wiggle factor.

The benefits of meandering Putting these kinks back into the system increases the length of the channel. A stream that “wiggles” back and forth travels a longer course as it moves through the valley than it would in a straight line. A longer, meandering stream means the water spends more time on the land, allowing the earth to soak it up to recharge the underground layer of water below that feeds Aravaipa Creek.

The volunteers followed their leader with tools in hand, pouring hours of sweat and labor into the construction of induced meandering structures. In spite of the language barrier that existed, volunteers quickly fell into rhythm with one another as they followed Clothier’s guidance. The collaborative effort by non-profit TNC, the BLM agency and public volunteers aid in the preservation of this stream – which includes one of the Southwest’s most intact native fisheries – in the face of uncertain future climate.

Photo by Chang You. Used with permission - Volunteers clean sand from the holes to prepare them for the juniper posts.

Volunteers put the final touches on a nearly finished section of the creek deflector project. “The main value of the Cobra Ranch to us was that it is really important for supplying flow to Aravaipa Creek,” said Haberstich, “so I wanted to do everything I could to encourage better infiltration.

The second stage of what Haberstich deemed a “two-step restoration process” was well underway. Haberstich has seen the restoration through from the beginning. In the first stage of the restoration, he increased ground cover by planting native grasses that stabilized the soil to combat the extensive erosion throughout Stowe Gulch.

The next step, according to Haberstich, was to address the problem the incised channel of Stowe Gulch. In his search for a solution, he was directed by the Quivira Coalition to a book they had published written by Bill Zeedyk and Van Clothier called Let the Water Do the Work. The book detailed methods developed by the authors to induce meandering and restore stream channels to their natural winding courses.

It just so happened that Haberstich and Clothier shared a common friend in Jeff Conn of BLM. Conn put a call in to Clothier and the project hit the ground running.

And so began the difficult task of designing a restoration plan for Stowe Gulch. Quoting his mentor, Zeedyk, Clothier said you have to become a “forensic hydrologist.” To understand the disturbances, you have to look at all the clues on the landscape.

If it’s not beautiful, you can bet it’s not natural,” Clothier said, “A stream will quickly recover if the project aims to help the stream move toward a more natural state.

Nathan Jackson is majoring in Natural Resources: Wildlife Conservation and Management. He plans to further his studies in wildlife management and engage in large mammal research. This story was submitted for publication on December 18, 2012.

Summer 2013 monsoons bring a bountiful rainwater harvest

July and August rains have been very generous this year in Silver City. Silva Creek Botanical Gardens water harvesting diversion was created in 2006. Many hundreds of volunteer hours have been spent planting and tending the native plants that grow here from harvested rainwater. Stormwater runoff from a 75 acre neighborhood subwatershed used to go out of town in the Big Ditch. Now it irrigates the garden, which gets better and better each year.

On Cheyenne Street a driveway between two houses was shortened by one parking space to create a rain garden. Dave and Katherine are stoked about their curb cut on Montana Street which fills four large basins in a good rain. At the 10th Street entrance to Western New Mexico University, native plants and wildflowers thrive on harvested rainwater from 5 curb bore holes. A riot of wildflowers flourish on runoff frim a dirt cul-de-sac on North Grant Street. Mark Cantrell from Lone Mountain Natives checks a Desert Sage he supplied for a project on E Street in Silver City.

Stream Dynamics water harvesting projects in action

Stream Dynamics owner Van Clothier loves to see his work... well, working. So, during a recent monsoon rain Van went all around his hometown to see his projects in action, harvesting water for the greater good. Here are photos and a video from his tour.

Willow plantings protected bank when Mogollon Creek hit 15,000 cfs on July 24, 2013

Mogollon Creek flood chart July 24, 2013Mogollon Creek spiked at 15,000 cubic feet per second on Wednesday, July 24. There was a Forest Service fence and gate near an eroding bank of the creek near the confluence with the Gila River. Stream Dynamics had stabilized this bank as part of a project for the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance in December 2011. We moved the gate and fence back from the creek about 30 feet and stabilized the bank by planting willows and cottonwoods in a deep trench. The groundwater was so low on the day of planting that I had to dig 9 feet deep to hit the water. Tom Cooper and James Sanders assisted on various parts of this job, which also included setting large boulders to prevent people from driving on the river banks.

Most of the trees sprouted and were able to survive the drought due to the very deep planting. The planting was designed in the form of an upstream pointing stream barb, which stream restorationists call a vane. This is intended to create a bit of deposition, which the willows then protect with their branches and roots. Picture a willow thicket during a flood. The flood waters are going very fast and they lay the willows down flat against the bank. Under the many stems and shoots of the willows the water is flowing very slowly and this protects the ground from erosion.  In fact, the hydraulic roughness caused by the thousands of branches, leaves and stems slows down the water and cause it to drop a bit of its sediment, building up the bank that was previously getting eroded. Several minor floods passed through last year and the bank had started to deposit sediment. Wednesday's flood deposited a bunch more. Using the power of floodwaters and the ability of native riparian vegetation to resist erosion, we were able to effect a repair job that works with the natural forces and not against them.

Van Clothier, Stream Dynamics, Inc.

Boulders placed to keep vehicles off stream bank
Boulders placed to keep vehicles off stream bank
Willow planting in 2011
Willow planting in 2011
Willow survive 15,000 cfs flood on Mogollon Creek
Willow survive 15,000 cfs flood on Mogollon Creek

Article: New Water Diversion/Catchment In Silver City

With rainy season we can all see the copious amounts of water that run of the streets and another resident decided to do what he could. A new water diversion/harvesting system was begun today and will be completed tomorrow. In the upper left water will be diverted from a relatively steep street to 4 catch basins like the ones above being worked on by Jonathan Jordan, Aldo High Student on left and Daniel Eady.

Water catchment basin construction

See the rest on GilaCommunity.net

 

Bog Springs restoration project in Ruidoso nears completion

Bog Springs restoration projectAfter three years of getting approvals, permits and studies, the Bog Springs restoration project is finally underway and nearing completion.

The project engineered to restore wetlands along Warrior Drive and further enhance the ecology in the area of Ruidoso High School is a collaborative effort that includes city, village, students, teachers and high school departments.

"The 'get 'er done' attitude on ground level has been outstanding," said Van Clothier, owner of Stream Dynamics, a stream restoration, water harvesting and erosion control company. "I'm really impressed at the cooperation."

"The city's doing the heavy lifting and Stream dynamics is doing the detail work," said Clothier, who is overseeing the project on Ruidoso High School land.

The project engineered to restore wetlands along Warrior Drive near Ruidoso High School is a collaborative effort that includes city, village, students, teachers and high school departments. (null) heavy lifting and Stream dynamics is doing the detail work," said Clothier, who is overseeing the project on Ruidoso High School land. The project is part of a settlement agreement coming out of a lawsuit that an environmental group filed against the village of Ruidoso.

"After three years, it's exciting to see it actually happening," said Nora Midkiff of the Restoration Committee.

Clothier said Midkiff was instrumental in bringing the project together and cutting through all the red tape,

"Without Nora's help we'd never have gotten this done," Clothier said. "Every time there was a problem she got it fixed."

Clothier explained that about 30 percent of the project is finished. Last week Stream Dynamics completed the creation of two ponds that ultimately will feed the wetlands restoration areas and create natural underground water storage reservoirs that will feed Bog Springs Creek slowly.

"The best part of it is the water is free," Clothier said.

See the rest of the article here

Santa Cruz River Restoration in Sonora

April 2013 saw another successful restoration effort on the upper Santa Cruz River near San Lazaro, Sonora.

Working with Sky Island Alliance, local landowners, and volunteers from both sides of the border, Stream Dynamics guided efforts including planting willow poles for future bird habitat.

Thank you to all the volunteers!