By Eric Maddy
The Score

Question: How many burrowing owls and bank swallows does it take to bring five diverse interests together on one problem?

Answer: Apparently as many as live in southwestern Rio Rancho.

Under the umbrella of an extraordinary coalition of government, private and ecological concerns, the board of directors of the Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority on Friday moved closer to purchasing additional land upstream of a proposed dam near 19th Avenue. The acquisition would simultaneously preserve the habitat for two birds, create safe public open space and protect land slated for the city's first full-service hospital from flooding.

What started out as a simple update on the progress on infrastructure and land acquisition for the hospital turned into an hour-long discussion that prompted Mayor Mike Williams to volunteer to seek a building moratorium to prevent construction outside the arroyos start just south of Southern Boulevard and run west of Unser to nearly the Sandoval County line.

“This is an historic moment. We have the cooperation of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, SSCAFCA, the city of Rio Rancho and the development community,” said SSCAFCA board chairman Mark Conkling. “That’s five major forces in our city that are cooperating on creating the first set-aside wildlife habitat.”

Bo Johnson, who as executive vice president  for Curb Inc. is responsible for developing the infrastructure for the hospital, came before the board to simply report that his company had been able to arrange for contracts on about 14 of 20 acres required by SSCAFCA for flood control approval. Johnson said his company was able to negotiate deals for the land outlined in red in the map above and that Game and Fish had signed off on the land as an appropriate habitat replacement for the two birds that also have nests in the area where Presbyterian Hospital is planning to break ground on a new hospital next July. He also reported that he was close to obtaining a 404 approval pertaining to environmental impact from the Army Corps of Engineers.

While noting he was still six acres short of meeting SSCAFCA’s 20-acre requirement for open space, Johnson wanted to make sure the board agreed with the proposed land deal before spending an estimated $750,000 on the property.

Board member Donald Rudy questioned whether it would be better to target the area bordered in yellow on the map, believing it would be more suitable for the habitat that is being dislocated because of the hospital construction.

“I guess that I’m a little bothered by the fact that the red line does not include a significant fraction of the area within the yellow which I would have considered to be the primary environmental habitat,” Rudy said. “I haven’t heard from the Fish and Game that they approved it, but if they did I can do nothing but concur. But from my own background this doesn’t quite work.”

Randy Floyd, an aquatic habitat specialist for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, told the board he had done a personal inspection of the site. And while he agreed with Rudy’s concerns, he said Game and Fish “decided that based on acreage of the upland to the west that this was going to be adequate. In an ideal world, it would be wonderful to purchase those lots down in southeast corner to include the entire arroyo, but we decided to go ahead and concur with the proposed acquisition.

“There are burrowing owls all thru system,” Floyd said. “The purpose of the upland habitat is to provide foraging for the burrowing owls. It is an essential part of the mitigation piece. If you only provided just the arroyo without upland foraging, it would not be adequate for the burrowing owls. This is excellent habitat.”

Both Conkling and Rudy expressed concern that land surrounding the proposed purchase area has already been platted for possible commercial development and wondered if the buffer between development and the habitat was large enough.

Conkling mentioned a specific lot that could be a problem if developed, and Floyd agreed.

“That is a pretty narrow buffer on that lot. There is always potential (trouble) depending on what landowner does on that lot,” he said. “Under ideal conditions you would have a wider buffer of protection there.”

Floyd said his department did not request the Metric Corp., which is doing the environmental work on the site for Curb Inc., if it could purchase additional land. “We thought about that,” he said. “That was a concern. But we did not pursue that discussion.”

Fearing possible building on sites that could prevent the project from coming together, Williams then suggested that the city might be able to place a building moratorium around the area, noting that SSCAFCA is planning a bond issue in November of next year to seek funding for this and similar projects.  “I could suggest it – I could not guarantee it,” he said. “That would protect everybody from developing on the land around the red border until after the election in 2008.”

Eddie Paulsgrove, the regulatory project manager for the Albuquerque district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, suggested that the agencies work together to acquire additional land downstream (that is within the yellow boundary but not the red) to use as a tradeoff for future development. His suggestion was to have developers who work on future projects that require habitat relocation focus their efforts on these parcels in exchange for considerations closer to their sites.
He said Williams’ proposal “was a great show of faith” that could lead to an “informal mitigation bank” whereby the various parties cooperated in an attempt to preserve the land.

“We can make this work as a staple (project) in watershed management. By using the same vehicle that this 404 (approval) went through, we can make it applicable to additional parties down the road,” he said.

Paulsgrove envisioned future development projects “in the same watershed area, though perhaps not as big as this one, where in cooperation with this board and the city, we could work with the applicant to continue to obtain this property at no cost to the public as habitat replacement for habitat lost to development. There are opportunities here.”

Currently the Corps requires to developers to trade at somewhere from a 3-to-1 to 5-to-1 ratio for land given up, meaning the developer of one acre of land where there was significant environmental impact would have to acquire three to five acres in replacement habitat.

SSCAFCA executive director David Stoliker noted that even with the purchase of all the land on the map, there would still be a gap of other owners between the parcels in question and the proposed 19th Avenue Dam. “Fish and Wildlife says it is a spectacular site,” Stoliker said. “I’ve begun conversations with Mr. Floyd about this.

“Can we go ahead and buy this, put it on the bond issue as land for future environmental mitigation? Mr. Floyd indicated that was possible,” Stoliker said. “I’m not saying it is cheap. But if it is that spectacular, gosh, wouldn’t it be a nice emenity for the public?”

Rudy summed up the conversation, noting, “I am very impressed at the level of cooperation I see. This other parcel is a major step forward in our ability to provide both environmental protection and public safety in the form of flood protection  It is very nice to do the same things with a single action.”

Added Conkling: “The idea that will be come part of our vision is to get out ahead and buy wildlife habitat in ideal locations, and require future developers to focus on that area for replacement property. Eventually we would be paid back in today’s dollars, which would help developers.

“In the future, when we speak of wildlife habitat and flood control, it will be driven by flood control and replacement property for development projects, carrying this level of cooperation even farther.”

“What were doing here is good for the city,” Johnson said. “I’m proud to be part of the effort. If it all comes together it would be good for all of us.”