Pecos Canyon State Park

The headwaters of the Pecos River are protected through ecologically informed planning and design in a treasured New Mexico State Park.

PLANNING:
Located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Pecos Canyon State Park offers unique opportunities to explore headwaters of the Pecos River, a federally designated Wild and Scenic River with additional protections through its designation as “Outstanding Waters” by the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission and Green Chile waters by the NM Department of Game and Fish. Even with these protections, however, the park faced challenges from natural and human disturbances. Post-wildfire flooding and decades of unregulated park use had degraded several reaches of the river, its riparian zone, and uplands.

Fortunately, the State Parks Division of New Mexico’s Energy Minerals, and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD), which assumed management of the park in 2019, launched the development of a master plan to improve the park and safeguard its unique ecology. As a key member of a team led by Design Office, Biohabitats guided the ecological vision for the master plan. Biohabitats conducted comprehensive ecological assessments of seven camping and day-use sites along the Pecos River and one of its tributaries, the Mora River. Biohabitats also identified opportunities and developed strategies for conservation, ecological restoration, and water systems management.

The collaborative, multidisciplinary planning effort led to the vision of a park that provides users with safe, interconnected spaces for enjoying the Pecos River while also enhancing and protecting its ecological integrity, water quality, and habitats.

DESIGN & PERMITTING:
As the project shifted from planning to design, Biohabitats contributed to the design and permitting of park improvements in the North, South, and Central sections of the Rio Mora area of the park, where the Rio Mora converges with the Pecos. The first phase of improvements included two day-use areas, a campground, parking lot improvements, fishing platforms, ADA access to the Pecos River, and a new vault toilet.

Biohabitats performed hydraulic modeling and designed planting plans for drainage areas, raised beds, and riparian zones with the goals of increasing biodiversity, retaining stable banks while supporting recreation, safeguarding water quality, and protecting mature trees, such as cottonwoods. Biohabitats also supported the design and permitting of a new vehicular and pedestrian bridge across the Rio Mora. This included recommendations for stormwater basins on both sides of the road with considerable differences in hydrology. Design included substrate materials and native plant communities for the capture and filtration of bridge runoff.

The Pecos River’s Wild and Scenic River and Outstanding Waters designations have implications for design and permitting, included regulatory requirements from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, and New Mexico Environment Department. Biohabitats provided regulatory guidance throughout planning and construction. This involved delineating Ordinary High Water and wetlands, assessing habitat for several threatened and endangered species, including the Mexican spotted owl, southwestern willow flycatcher, Rio Grande cutthroat trout, monarch butterfly, silverspot, and the Holy Ghost ipomopsis (flower), and preparing permitting documents.