Post by Okwes on May 23, 2007 9:47:17 GMT -5
Speaking for river life
The New Mexican
Robert Gomez slips on neoprene waders and steps into the Rio Pueblo de
Taos. About three miles southwest, the river plunges down into the steep
gorge, rushing into the Rio Grande. Several miles northeast of where he
stands is Taos Pueblo, built next to this river almost 1,000 years ago.
Gomez, 39, scoops up a vial of river water, tightens the lid and slides it
back into the small, white box he�s carrying to measure later for
turbidity, a measure of cloudiness. He drops a black multiprobe into the
water, measuring the water�s temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen, all
part of the Rio Pueblo�s vital signs. The water here is muddy. The edges
near the riverbank are thickly laden with a gooey layer of silt, hiding
the rocky stream bottom underneath.
�It really changes dramatically after a heavy runoff,� says Gomez,
director of Taos Pueblo�s Environment Department. �The water washes away
the sediment, and you�ll see this go down to the rocks. Then it will fill
up with 18 inches of silt in six months� time.�
Twice a month, Gomez and his five-member staff monitor 10 sites along the
Rio Pueblo and Rio Lucero from their headwaters to the Rio Grande. On this
temperate February day, he and Jeff Ogburn, a water quality specialist,
aren�t surprised by the muddy, brown water they see.
Development, grazing and vehicles on dirt roads loosen soil and strip
vegetation, they say. Rain and snowmelt wash the soil, vehicle oil and
other man-made concoctions into the Rio Pueblo. Leaking septic tanks
slowly seep beneath the ground into the river.
Silt and warmer water from pollution are bad news for the snails, leeches
and flying insects on which trout feed. Stoneflies, for example, need
extra-clean water to survive.
�They�re wimps when it comes to pollution,� says Gomez, an avid fly
fisher. �Midges are hardier; they can survive some pollution.�
Cottonwoods and willows once shaded this river stretch. Now the banks are
thick with grass, weeds and a couple of small non-native Russian olive
trees trying to take hold.
On the east side of the Rio Pueblo, toward Taos, is private land where
1,500 homes in a planned subdivision will one day reach the edge of the
ridge overlooking the river. Gomez is worried the development will add yet
more silt to this stretch of river and, eventually, the Rio Grande. The
state Environment Department already considers this portion of the Rio
Pueblo degraded to less than acceptable standards.
On the west side of the river is Tract A, about 40,000 acres Taos Pueblo
owns, sandwiched between the Rio Pueblo and the Rio Grande. The pueblo�s
jurisdiction extends to the middle of both rivers along their land. As
such, Taos Pueblo�s water quality standards, approved last year by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, hold sway over these waters.
Since 1987, tribes have been allowed to set their own water quality
standards under the federal Clean Water Act with EPA approval. Tribal
water quality standards are usually stricter than those set by states.
Gomez thinks that�s a good thing. �Tribes, in my opinion, will always set
stricter standards because we speak for the critters that have no voice,
the eagles, the hummingbirds, the deer,� Gomez says. �Animals are
important to us traditionally.�
Under the Clean Water Act, rivers are supposed to be clean enough for
fishing and swimming. As cities grew, treated wastewater and industrial
discharges to rivers increased, and homes replaced wetlands. The quality
of rivers began deteriorating, and tribes noticed the impacts.
Tribal efforts to establish their standards have been controversial both
within and outside tribal boundaries. Isleta Pueblo in 1992 became one of
the first tribes in New Mexico to establish its own water quality
standards. The pueblo wanted to limit upstream pollution from its
neighbor, the city of Albuquerque. A year later, the city sued the pueblo
over the new water quality standards in state District Court and lost.
Last June, Taos Pueblo became the 11th New Mexico tribe to establish water
quality standards. In total, the pueblo manages 130 miles on the Rio
Pueblo, its tributary the Rio Lucero, and the Rio Grande. It also manages
Blue Lake and Bear Lake in the Taos Mountains. The pueblo uses traditional
practices to care for the watershed, protecting sacred sites, Gomez says.
Cutting firewood and latillas within a certain distance of the river is
prohibited. No development or logging occurs around the lakes.
For 11 years, Gomez has been part of his pueblo�s efforts to set water
quality standards. His life with rivers has influenced his work.
Gomez, of Taos Pueblo and Navajo descent, grew up along the Rio Pueblo de
Taos.
He remembers in 1979 the Rio Pueblo de Taos raging through Taos Pueblo at
more than 1,000 cubic feet per second, threatening to breach the banks and
flood the ancient village. Tribal members piled up sandbags to keep the
waters at bay.
After the water receded, the pueblo decided to pull out riparian
vegetation and bulldoze a deeper channel to prevent future floods. As a
boy, Gomez recalls, he stood on the bank watching the machines at work. �I
remember seeing those scars from the bulldozers on the riverbanks,� Gomez
says. �I think I had an epiphany. I was angered and wondered if there was
a better way.�
As the head of the Taos Pueblo Environment Department for the last five
years, Gomez has joined a movement to change the way people interact with
rivers. He has multiple roles: scientist, politician, advocate and a
builder of relations between people of intensely different backgrounds. In
addition to his work for the pueblo, Gomez is a board member of a Western
states advocacy group called River Network and is working with other
tribes to create the Indigenous River Network.
�I have come to realize it�s not people who have a river problem,� he
says. �The rivers have a people problem. It is institutional thinking that
says control the river, channel it, just because someone�s land is getting
flooded.�
Gomez and his wife, Tammie, are raising their two sons, Tyler, 5, and
Warren, 2, near the Rio Pueblo and the Rio Grande. �I want them to
understand there�s a connection between healthy waters, healthy rivers,
healthy people,� he says. �We want our kids to understand there�s more to
life than an Xbox.�
Gomez attended New Mexico State University before returning to work for
the pueblo�s Environment Department in the early 1990s. A federal grant
paid for him and three other tribal members to learn how to design and
monitor a water quality testing program in the Rio Pueblo and Rio Lucero
watersheds. Their work formed the basis for the pueblo�s water quality
standards.
He took a break in 1999 to help nearby Picuris Pueblo update its water
standards, then returned in 2001 to head Taos Pueblo�s Environment
Department.
That year, the pueblo�s council adopted a water standards code even though
the Rio Pueblo de Taos had gone dry for the first time in years. Gomez
says it was unusual for the highly traditional pueblo council to approve a
regulation based on Western science. �Yet water quality and protection of
water resources on a religious, cultural and day-to-day level was
important enough to the elders to adopt this code for the protection of
our sacred and precious resource,� Gomez says.
Building a river monitoring program has challenges specific to the pueblo.
Every program action requires the approval of the 50-member pueblo council
of elders, Gomez says. Gomez and his staff can�t always set up monitoring
sites in the places scientists think are best. Some of those areas are
off-limits under pueblo rules.
�We have a number of cultural parameters that take precedence over
everything,� Gomez says. �The whole place (Taos Pueblo land) is a living,
breathing cultural site.�
Already, the pueblo�s monitoring has provided valuable insight to
scientists outside the pueblo. After the 2003 Encebado Fire swept through
Taos Pueblo land, monitoring sites set up above and below the fire allowed
scientists to track the impacts from the ash and debris as it washed down.
The pueblo�s ultimate goal is to make the river water safe enough to
drink, he says. Amigos Bravos, a local river advocacy group, wants the
same thing.
�The goal is not self-serving. This is important for our future,� Gomez
says. �As future groundwater depletions occur due to irresponsible
development, dams and other projects, these impacts are felt by everyone.�
Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.
*
The New Mexican
Robert Gomez slips on neoprene waders and steps into the Rio Pueblo de
Taos. About three miles southwest, the river plunges down into the steep
gorge, rushing into the Rio Grande. Several miles northeast of where he
stands is Taos Pueblo, built next to this river almost 1,000 years ago.
Gomez, 39, scoops up a vial of river water, tightens the lid and slides it
back into the small, white box he�s carrying to measure later for
turbidity, a measure of cloudiness. He drops a black multiprobe into the
water, measuring the water�s temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen, all
part of the Rio Pueblo�s vital signs. The water here is muddy. The edges
near the riverbank are thickly laden with a gooey layer of silt, hiding
the rocky stream bottom underneath.
�It really changes dramatically after a heavy runoff,� says Gomez,
director of Taos Pueblo�s Environment Department. �The water washes away
the sediment, and you�ll see this go down to the rocks. Then it will fill
up with 18 inches of silt in six months� time.�
Twice a month, Gomez and his five-member staff monitor 10 sites along the
Rio Pueblo and Rio Lucero from their headwaters to the Rio Grande. On this
temperate February day, he and Jeff Ogburn, a water quality specialist,
aren�t surprised by the muddy, brown water they see.
Development, grazing and vehicles on dirt roads loosen soil and strip
vegetation, they say. Rain and snowmelt wash the soil, vehicle oil and
other man-made concoctions into the Rio Pueblo. Leaking septic tanks
slowly seep beneath the ground into the river.
Silt and warmer water from pollution are bad news for the snails, leeches
and flying insects on which trout feed. Stoneflies, for example, need
extra-clean water to survive.
�They�re wimps when it comes to pollution,� says Gomez, an avid fly
fisher. �Midges are hardier; they can survive some pollution.�
Cottonwoods and willows once shaded this river stretch. Now the banks are
thick with grass, weeds and a couple of small non-native Russian olive
trees trying to take hold.
On the east side of the Rio Pueblo, toward Taos, is private land where
1,500 homes in a planned subdivision will one day reach the edge of the
ridge overlooking the river. Gomez is worried the development will add yet
more silt to this stretch of river and, eventually, the Rio Grande. The
state Environment Department already considers this portion of the Rio
Pueblo degraded to less than acceptable standards.
On the west side of the river is Tract A, about 40,000 acres Taos Pueblo
owns, sandwiched between the Rio Pueblo and the Rio Grande. The pueblo�s
jurisdiction extends to the middle of both rivers along their land. As
such, Taos Pueblo�s water quality standards, approved last year by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, hold sway over these waters.
Since 1987, tribes have been allowed to set their own water quality
standards under the federal Clean Water Act with EPA approval. Tribal
water quality standards are usually stricter than those set by states.
Gomez thinks that�s a good thing. �Tribes, in my opinion, will always set
stricter standards because we speak for the critters that have no voice,
the eagles, the hummingbirds, the deer,� Gomez says. �Animals are
important to us traditionally.�
Under the Clean Water Act, rivers are supposed to be clean enough for
fishing and swimming. As cities grew, treated wastewater and industrial
discharges to rivers increased, and homes replaced wetlands. The quality
of rivers began deteriorating, and tribes noticed the impacts.
Tribal efforts to establish their standards have been controversial both
within and outside tribal boundaries. Isleta Pueblo in 1992 became one of
the first tribes in New Mexico to establish its own water quality
standards. The pueblo wanted to limit upstream pollution from its
neighbor, the city of Albuquerque. A year later, the city sued the pueblo
over the new water quality standards in state District Court and lost.
Last June, Taos Pueblo became the 11th New Mexico tribe to establish water
quality standards. In total, the pueblo manages 130 miles on the Rio
Pueblo, its tributary the Rio Lucero, and the Rio Grande. It also manages
Blue Lake and Bear Lake in the Taos Mountains. The pueblo uses traditional
practices to care for the watershed, protecting sacred sites, Gomez says.
Cutting firewood and latillas within a certain distance of the river is
prohibited. No development or logging occurs around the lakes.
For 11 years, Gomez has been part of his pueblo�s efforts to set water
quality standards. His life with rivers has influenced his work.
Gomez, of Taos Pueblo and Navajo descent, grew up along the Rio Pueblo de
Taos.
He remembers in 1979 the Rio Pueblo de Taos raging through Taos Pueblo at
more than 1,000 cubic feet per second, threatening to breach the banks and
flood the ancient village. Tribal members piled up sandbags to keep the
waters at bay.
After the water receded, the pueblo decided to pull out riparian
vegetation and bulldoze a deeper channel to prevent future floods. As a
boy, Gomez recalls, he stood on the bank watching the machines at work. �I
remember seeing those scars from the bulldozers on the riverbanks,� Gomez
says. �I think I had an epiphany. I was angered and wondered if there was
a better way.�
As the head of the Taos Pueblo Environment Department for the last five
years, Gomez has joined a movement to change the way people interact with
rivers. He has multiple roles: scientist, politician, advocate and a
builder of relations between people of intensely different backgrounds. In
addition to his work for the pueblo, Gomez is a board member of a Western
states advocacy group called River Network and is working with other
tribes to create the Indigenous River Network.
�I have come to realize it�s not people who have a river problem,� he
says. �The rivers have a people problem. It is institutional thinking that
says control the river, channel it, just because someone�s land is getting
flooded.�
Gomez and his wife, Tammie, are raising their two sons, Tyler, 5, and
Warren, 2, near the Rio Pueblo and the Rio Grande. �I want them to
understand there�s a connection between healthy waters, healthy rivers,
healthy people,� he says. �We want our kids to understand there�s more to
life than an Xbox.�
Gomez attended New Mexico State University before returning to work for
the pueblo�s Environment Department in the early 1990s. A federal grant
paid for him and three other tribal members to learn how to design and
monitor a water quality testing program in the Rio Pueblo and Rio Lucero
watersheds. Their work formed the basis for the pueblo�s water quality
standards.
He took a break in 1999 to help nearby Picuris Pueblo update its water
standards, then returned in 2001 to head Taos Pueblo�s Environment
Department.
That year, the pueblo�s council adopted a water standards code even though
the Rio Pueblo de Taos had gone dry for the first time in years. Gomez
says it was unusual for the highly traditional pueblo council to approve a
regulation based on Western science. �Yet water quality and protection of
water resources on a religious, cultural and day-to-day level was
important enough to the elders to adopt this code for the protection of
our sacred and precious resource,� Gomez says.
Building a river monitoring program has challenges specific to the pueblo.
Every program action requires the approval of the 50-member pueblo council
of elders, Gomez says. Gomez and his staff can�t always set up monitoring
sites in the places scientists think are best. Some of those areas are
off-limits under pueblo rules.
�We have a number of cultural parameters that take precedence over
everything,� Gomez says. �The whole place (Taos Pueblo land) is a living,
breathing cultural site.�
Already, the pueblo�s monitoring has provided valuable insight to
scientists outside the pueblo. After the 2003 Encebado Fire swept through
Taos Pueblo land, monitoring sites set up above and below the fire allowed
scientists to track the impacts from the ash and debris as it washed down.
The pueblo�s ultimate goal is to make the river water safe enough to
drink, he says. Amigos Bravos, a local river advocacy group, wants the
same thing.
�The goal is not self-serving. This is important for our future,� Gomez
says. �As future groundwater depletions occur due to irresponsible
development, dams and other projects, these impacts are felt by everyone.�
Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.
*