Santa Fe, NM
Our 2021 and 2022 willow and cottonwood plantings along the Santa Fe River continue the work of a previous replanting effort in 2019 within this same reach, following the destruction of riparian plantings in the 100-year flood of 2018. These planting efforts support additional, complementary habitat restoration and improvement efforts all along the Santa Fe River Park and Trail.
Project goals include increasing bank stability, decreasing sediment mobilization downstream, and providing improved habitat through revegetation and stream shading. The work was supported by the City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, the Santa Fe Watershed Association, and friend of the river, Tom Noble.
2021: Planting of 800 willow stems and 100 cottonwood poles along .5 miles of streambed, extending from Frenchy’s Field downstream towards Siler Road. Funding for this mobilization was provided by The Sierra Club Foundation.
2022: Additional planting of 5,000 willow stems and 480 cottonwood poles within the same reach, and extending slightly further towards Siler Road. We added plantings at a higher density within previously planted areas and extended developing point bars with additional plantings. The 2022 plantings were funded by the NM Economic Development Department Outdoor Recreation Division: Trails+ Grant, The Sierra Club Foundation, and the Santa Fe Watershed Association.
