Next time you are hiking the Loop Trail at the Randall Davey Audubon Center, keep an eye out for the prettiest erosion mitigation you’ve ever seen! Local scout, Ansley King, recently organized a service workday for her Eagle Scout project to construct a series of erosion control structures to help manage runoff from large rainstorms. Ansley, other Troop 57 scouts, family, and friends, spent a wet Saturday in April digging holes and laying out rock along the lower section of the Loop Trail. 

In all, the Troop built three check dams and six zuni bowls to help slow down water movement, promote moisture percolating into the soil, and reduce sedimentation in the Acequia del Llano. When large weather systems come through Santa Fe, our grounds can suddenly be subjected to huge amounts of water in a very small amount of time. Due to the loss of topsoil, increasing temperatures and drought, as well as the rate and speed of the water, most of the rain simply runs down the side of the mountain, rather than seeping into the ground. 

This prevents plants and trees from benefiting from the rain, and also contributes to erosion, trail damage, and large amounts of sediment running into the acequia and Santa Fe River. Erosion mitigation measures like check dams help slow runoff, while zuni bowls promote seepage into the soil. This work will hopefully prevent damage, and promote healthier soil for the Pinyon-Juniper forest we have on property. 

Why do we mention how pretty these structures are? As part of her Eagle Scout project, Ansley secured donations from Home Depot ™ for her necessary materials, including several large bags of mica rocks. Bringing in rocks helps to minimize soil disturbance, rather than collecting them from the landscape. Mica is a naturally occurring mineral on our property, known for its glittery appearance. The concentrated mica used for this project makes the check dams and zuni bowls sparkle in the sunlight!  

A huge thanks to Ansley and Troop 57 for their help and hard work!