Silver City Watershed Keepers Rainwater Harvesting 101 Workshop

Category: Local News Releases Local News Releases
Published: 06 October 2023 06 October 2023

Silver City Watershed Keepers and Stream Dynamics Offer Free Rainwater Harvesting 101 Workshop and Bike Tour

The Silver City Watershed Keepers, in conjunction with Stream Dynamics, is offering a free Rainwater Harvesting Workshop and Bike Tour on Saturday, October 21, 2023. The workshop is from 10 AM-12 PM and the bike tour is from 1-3 PM. Lunch will be provided, from 12-1 PM. Participants can participate in one or both of the activities. Pre-registration is required. Workshop location will be provided upon successful registration.

With over 40 years of combined experience with rainwater harvesting, watershed restoration, erosion control, and related topics, Van Clothier and Martha Egnal of Stream Dynamics, Inc and Asher Gelbart of Green Energy Now will present the basics of rainwater harvesting and erosion control, tailored to residents of Silver City and its environs. Our goal is to provide beginning rainwater harvesters with tools to help harvest and conserve this precious resource, and employ techniques that will reduce groundwater use and improve water quality in our region.

San Vicente Creek is Silver City’s only perennial waterway and is the focus of significant watershed monitoring, stewardship, restoration, and beautification efforts. Stormwater runoff during significant rain events leads to flooding problems in the San Vicente Watershed, causing erosion and deposition issues as well as pollutant and sediment transfer into the Big Ditch and contributing waterways. When it rains, oil from streets and driveways, pet waste, and litter can all be captured by runoff and flow into the creek. The geography of the San Vicente watershed, combined with the existing and increasing development of urban infrastructure, exacerbated by poor stormwater management generates a serious threat to the fragile riparian habitat of the San Vicente watershed when there are significant rain events.

As the issue of urban stormwater runoff and its negative impact on our fragile watersheds is widespread in our region and our state, Stream Dynamics has become a regional expert in designing and implementing curb cuts- low-cost infrastructure retrofits that harvest rainwater runoff directly from the streets into basins that are on or adjacent to the sidewalk and right-of-way. With a grant from the New Mexico Environment Department’s River Stewardship Program and collaborating with the town of Silver City, Stream Dynamics is aiming to install 100 urban green stormwater harvesting infrastructure projects – like curb cuts and curb cores – within Silver City city limits. This design can be replicated in other communities in New Mexico and other southwestern states.

Learn about your opportunities to harvest rainwater- including the possibility of participating in Stream Dynamics’ NMED grant-funded stormwater harvesting program by attending a free Rainwater Harvesting 101 Workshop on Saturday, October 21 from 10 AM (sharp!) until noon. The workshop will be followed by a free lunch.

Then, check out the work first-hand on a bike tour from 1-3 PM. Plan to wear a helmet and carry water and snacks. Bikes can be rented from Gila Hike and Bike and Bikeworks. All participants in the bike tour will need to sign a liability waiver.

Consider attending one or both of the day’s free events. Contact silvercitywatershedkeepers@gmail.com  for more information. To register: https://forms.gle/V97BiHsVHyjWCjba6

If you can’t attend and would like more information, contact the Silver City Watershed Keepers at 575.538.8078, silvercitywatershedkeepers@gmail.com , and follow us on Facebook @SCWatershedKeepers  and Instagram  @watershedkeepers.

Coordinated by the Gila Resources Information Project, the Silver City Watershed Keepers engages our community in the protection and restoration of the Silver City Watershed.

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