Watershed health: An evaluation index for New Mexico

93 In: Finch, Deborah M.; Whitney, Jeffrey C.; Kelly, Jeffrey F.; Loftin, Samuel R. 1999. Rio Grande ecosystems: linking land, water, and people. Toward a sustainable future for the Middle Rio Grande Basin. 1998 June 2-5; Albuquerque, NM. Proc. RMRS-P-7. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Bill Fleming is Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Planning, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM 87131. Abstract—Although watersheds are not equally healthy, there are no generally accepted criteria for evaluating and comparing them. This paper suggests several criteria which numerically evaluate watersheds in four ways: (1) riparian health, (2) aquatic macroinvertebrate biodiversity, (3) hillslope soil loss and (4) upland land use/flood peak potential. Each criterion is semiquantitatively evaluated on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 the healthiest and 10 the least healthy. The index is applied to two subalpine watersheds near Santa Fe, New Mexico, comparing them using the four numerical criteria. The Rio en Medio, site of the Santa Fe Ski Basin, was rated “good” (with a score of 4.1), while an adjacent undeveloped watershed, the Rio Tesuque was rated “excellent” (with a score of 2.5).