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 The Santa Fe River is up for adoption! Our community river, which could be the centerpiece of Santa Fe, needs your help to come back to life … and you can join the Adopt-the-River program to help achieve this goal.
The Santa Fe Watershed Association and the City and County of Santa Fe have initiated an Adopt-the-River program to enlist businesses, groups and individuals to help restore the river. Adopting organizations will keep their stretch of the river free of trash and graffiti and lined with native vegetation. Sponsors and Stewards will be credited with their name and logo on hanging signs along their section of river. Our ultimate goal is to bring the river back to life, which will require an integrated program of storm runoff management, releases from upstream reservoirs, and use of the river channel as a zone for aquifer recharge. Adopt-the-River involves:
River Sponsors: We are asking businesses and community groups to support the Santa Fe River and the Santa Fe Watershed Association with tax-deductible contributions. The basic contribution level is $1,000 per year to sponsor a reach of the river. This sponsorship is recognized with a sign visible from the road and the river. Businesses also can contribute funds to support structural work, such as erosion control projects, needed in some areas.
River Stewards: Schools, neighborhood associations and community groups partner with River Sponsors to provide labor for this program. Through regular visits to the river they become familiar with its problems and its potential, and help to advocate for its restoration.
The Santa Fe Watershed Association: The Association is developing a plan for restoring and maintaining each sponsored reach of the river and works with the City and County to ensure all actions taken in the Adopt-the-River project are consistent with the River Corridor Master Plan, other applicable City and County policies and procedures, and regulatory requirements. The Association implements and manages the Adopt-the-River program and organizes community participation in carrying out the River Corridor Master Plan.
Click here to see the official proclomation from the City of Santa Fe designating February 14, 2009 as "Love Your River Day"
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