Santa Fe Passes City Ordinance to Protect Rio Grande

The City of Santa Fe became the second city in the Rio Grande watershed to provide its citizens with a mechanism to support river flows in the Rio Grande when it approved a river check-off resolution.

The resolution calls for the city to create a check-off provision on monthly water bills that will allow citizens to contribute to a “Voluntary River Conservation Fund” whose sole purpose is to acquire water for environmental flows in the Santa Fe River or the Rio Grande. The City of Santa Fe’s resolution follows a similar commitment made by the City of Albuquerque in 2005 as a part of a settlement of a lawsuit between WildEarth Guardians and other environmental groups and the City. The Santa Fe check-off program will likely go public in April 2007, while the Albuquerque program should follow soon thereafter.

View the resolution (PDF)