Intense Precipitation Events and Flooding Climate Disruption & Our Water Future: Mitigate, Adapt or Suffer A Call for New Strategies Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly Saturday, March 21, 2015 Michael Jensen MRG Urban Water Partnership
Overview Climate & intense storm events The September 2013 event Local adaptation & mitigation activities Planning for Storm Events
There are two easy ways to die in the desert: thirst or drowning Craig Childs The Secret Knowledge of Water, pxiv
Climate & intense storm events Paradox Less precipitation (maybe) More frequent & stronger storm events Less snow, more rain Shifting seasonality
Climate & intense storm events Characteristics of the Southwest Long duration between large stormwater events Large variation in size and duration of events Sparse vegetation and complex soils Unique geology & steep topography Rapid land development Need to conserve water & identify new sources
Stormwater drain in SW Albuquerque
North Diversion Channel on July 14, 1990 5800 cfs
July 2014
The September 2013 event A deep upper level low pressure system that became relatively stationary over the Great Basin beginning on September 10th provided a steady stream of near record monsoon moisture over New Mexico Record to near record river flooding and areal flooding was observed in several areas of northern and central New Mexico by the end of the period A total of 12 New Mexico counties, 4 cities and towns, and 4 pueblos, including the Navajo Nation, were included in a statewide disaster declaration
3000.0 2500.0 2000.0 1500.0 1000.0 Central Alameda NDC Jemez San Felipe Cochiti 500.0 0.0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 September 2013 streamflow
The September 2013 event Central Bridge Sep 15, 2013
7000 6,370 cfs 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1,620 cfs 1000 0 NDC Central July 19, 2013; peak Spring runoff was 1,200 cfs
The September 2013 event Lessons? We survived Storm events are very complicated in terms of which tributaries or other sources are contributing The storm flows through ABQ were less than projected or feared The river spread out more than expected thanks to river restoration and minnow projects that created high flow and backflow channels & bank lowering and terracing
EPA R6 MS4 Permit
Valle de Oro / AMAFCA Stormwater facility
SSCAFCA Lower Montoyas Facility
ABQ downtown sector plan Enterprise Green Community standard
Local adaptation & mitigation activities CSWCD, NMWC, UNM demonstration demonstration green infrastructure facility
Teacher-led rainwater harvesting project @ Highland HS
NM Water Collaborative & ABCWUA are launching a pilot rainwater harvesting program
Planning for Storm Events Two Approaches Deal with the water after it gets to the river Deal with the water before it gets to the river
Planning for Storm Events Levee Task Force Scenarios for Levee Failure Snow melt runoff that would cause the Rio Grande to flow at 8,000 cfs for 30 days OR A storm that triggered flows of 20,000 cfs for 12 hours
The Vulnerability Assessment Scoring Tool (VAST) Cassie Bhat, ICF International March 17, 2015
Planning for Storm Events What s Vulnerable? Can t prepare before you figure this out Vulnerability is: Exposure (scale & scope of projected/modeled storm events & other expected stressors) Sensitivity (current condition of assets & likelihood of storm damage) Damage = Exposure + Sensitivity Adaptive Capacity (ability to adjust, repair, be flexible in response) RESPONSE: Damage compared with Adaptive Capacity
Planning for Storm Events Primary Needs Brainstorm Collect data Develop big picture system-level picture Dig down on the vulnerable assets Include lessons learned from experience and local conditions
Mitigate, Adapt or Suffer A Call for New Strategies
Michael Jensen (505) 362-1063 michael.jensen@bosqueschool.org