Jennifer Kleitz is the district supervisor with the Doña Ana Soil and Water Conservation District. She recently spoke with Scott Brocato about the DASWCD’S ongoing webinar series about various water and soil related issues, as well as what water and soil issues she feels are particularly urgent.
Scott Brocato:
Talk a little bit about the Doña Ana Soil and Water Conservation District and what you do for them as their District Manager.
Jennifer Kleitz:
So the Doña Ana Soil Water Conservation District is a form of local government. We are established by Legislative Charter from the state of New Mexico, and our task is to really protect the resources of...There are over 30 solar water conservation districts in the state of New Mexico, and each one has a little different mission depending on where we are, where they are, right? So we don't have a lot of forests, and in our district, we don't have any dams. Caballo Soil and Water Conservation District has a lot of dams, Sierra Soil and Water Conservation District has some dams. We don't have any dams, but what we do have is a lot of arroyos, we have orphan dam structures. So some of our legislative funding and our grant dollars we use to put on the ground to help do watershed restoration. That functions one, to help protect the little water we do get from storm events; and also to keep the soil in place on those watersheds instead of having it a roadway into the river.
Scott Brocato:
What are some soil and water conservation issues that you feel currently are particularly urgent, and why?
Jennifer Kleitz:
I would say the drought in New Mexico and the Southwest has created many problems, and so preserving the water we have underground, and what comes through storm events, is high priority. Going along with that is soil health, so restoring health to the soil that's on the ground helps it to establish itself and stay where it belongs there, and it also helps with replenishing the aquifer because the water that we get from the rains will stay in the ground if there's something for it to soak into.
Scott Brocato:
And to educate people, DASWCD is currently offering a biweekly watershed conservation education webinar series going on now. It lasts through July 15. Can you give me an overview of some of the topics that have been or and are going to be discussed?
Jennifer Kleitz:
So some of these topics we have taken from an old project we had several years ago which was Master Watershed Conservation Program. And so we've identified subject matter experts such as Nikki Dictson; she's a contractor with NMSU, WRRI, and she recently did her webinar series on hydrology and rivers and waterways. John Gwynne, from Doña Ana County flood control, is going to do a series Tuesday on flood issues, flood control issues. Watersheds: we are also going to have Dave DuBois, the state meteorologist; he's going to be doing a presentation in July, I believe on meteorology, climate, and how those changes work with drought and create some of the issues that we have.
So we're really looking forward to having these experts come in and educate the public on these different things, and we will be saving these videos and putting them on our website. What we found when we did this last time is that schools as far as California were visiting our website and watching the videos and downloading the information and responding back to us that they really appreciated that resource.
Scott Brocato:
And the webinars are free? And where can people register to be a part of them?
Jennifer Kleitz:
Yes. On our website, https://daswcd.org/
