With a mill levy proposal on the November ballot, Jennifer Kleitz, district manager for the Doňa Ana Soil and Water Conservation District, explains why and what the district does.
Susan Morée:
Jennifer, a lot of people, I don't think, know what Doňa Ana Soil and Water Conservation District is, much less what it does. Can you explain for us what it is that you all do and why you're important?
Jennifer Kleitz
The soil and water conservation districts, there are about, I think, 43 in the state of New Mexico. These were conservation districts that were established in the Dust Bowl days. They are a form of local government. We are considered a special government and we have our funding, which is a legislative funding and it's somewhere in the neighborhood of like $23,000 a year. And our job is to serve the landowners, ranchers, the city and the county in our situation. The city of Las Cruces is part of our district doing conservation work for the soil health, conservation of water, and restoration, erosion control, protecting our natural resources.
Susan Morée:
Can you talk a little bit about soil health? What does that mean exactly?
Jennifer Kleitz
Well, the healthier soil is, one of the things it does is stay in place and it also holds water. And so because of the fact that everybody sees during the windy season that there is dust everywhere. A lot of our soil is dried out and unhealthy. And drought is a big, big reason why. So we're always looking for ways to put practices into place that create healthier soil. We have a lot of agriculture in Doňa Ana County in the Mesilla Valley, and our farmers need help. And part of these practices are to help conserve the little water that we have these days. What is the best way to put it onto the ground? Flooding, they used to do that back in the day for the pecan farmers. We get a lot of water evaporation. We waste a lot of water now with that. So using different kinds of methods like drip tape and piping to get the water to the plants and make sure as much of it gets on the ground as possible. Adding things to the soil, things like biomes and using different kinds of fertilizers that have more natural things in them that stay in the soil and help make the root system more stable so it stays put.
Susan Morée:
Are there any specific projects you can tell us about that you all have launched that are helping the soil and water conservation of Doňa Ana County?
Jennifer Kleitz
Well, one of the programs we participate in is the Mexico Department of Agriculture's Healthy Soil Program. They have grant funding from the legislature. And local producers, farmers and ranchers, can apply. They cannot apply directly. They have to go through a local government agency like ourselves. One of the special things that soil and water conservation districts have is we can put state and federal dollars on private land, on city land, on county land, on federal land. So that allows us to be this mechanism for getting tax dollars into the hands of farmers and ranchers and city residents and county residents. That's also why we are helping the Interstate Stream Commission with their cover crop program. The United States Stream Commission has a groundwater conservation program asking farmers not to plant on certain acres of land. However, we don't want the soil to become unhealthy. So they are providing funding for a cover crop. We provide funding for the seed and for planting and prepping and doing maintenance as they grow a cover crop with certain conditions. They can't use any groundwater to water it. They can only use irrigation or surface water. We're trying to save groundwater and also have healthy soil. So that's another partnership we have.
Susan Morée:
And on the November ballot, there is going to be a question about a mill levy that involves
Doňa Ana Soil and Water Conservation District. What can you tell us about that so voters understand the question that they're being asked?
Jennifer Kleitz
So one of the things to understand is, as I said in the beginning, the state legislature provides us with about $24,000. Well, I guess this year we got $28,000. As you can probably imagine, it's really hard to even have a part-time administrator employed to do any kind of work for $28,000 a year. What we have to use in our case is we have to go and find grants. Well, you've got to have someone who has the time to do that. Then when we get the grants in, we hire people to work the grants and then when the grants are over, they've got to leave. We need this mill levy. [It] would allow us one to continue our neighborhoods program, which we have through a forestry grant that is planting over 2,000 trees in the city of Las Cruces and in Doňa Ana County. With funds from a mill levy, we would be able to keep that program growing. Additionally, there's a level of sustainability so that we can continue to grow, get grants, get more programs, put more money on the ground for the betterment of everyone in our community, the city and the county residents. We need some sustainable income and the mill levy would allow us to do that. The amount that we are asking for was a very minimal amount, but it will allow us to have more field technicians who can go out and do some work with our local producers and to run some of our cost share programs like, for instance, a rainwater harvesting program or a bale grazing program and noxious weed treatments, also to have more admin staff that will ensure that we stay compliant with all state regulations. Again, we are a form of local government and we have to abide by all the regulations and we have to do reporting to the state. We have to do procurement for when we do grants and have contractors. And also for at some point in the future for us to be able to have our own facility with equipment that would allow us to help out when our producers or when county residents get flooded, we can help out by providing them, by renting them some equipment that would allow them to, you know, dig out from some maybe mud or whatever that got into their backyard or a pump to get rid of some of the water from a flooding, those kinds of things. We would be in a position to really help them more by having these non-grant dollars. Because when you have grant dollars, you have to use it just for the grant and that's all. And when the monies are gone, those programs are gone and there's so much more we can do for our residents and on the ground if we had some additional overhead dollars for these programs and for the staff to support them.
Susan Morée:
And how much was the mill levy for?
Jennifer Kleitz
The ballot measure is for .25 mil, which would be somewhere around $27 a year for the average homeowner in Doňa Ana County or city of Las Cruces.
Susan Morée:
So just for those who don't know, because I had to look it up myself, what a mill levy actually is, it's a tax rate, right?
Jennifer Kleitz
Yes, it's on there.
Susan Morée:
If the mill levy should pass, then property owners within the Doňa Ana Soil and Water Conservation District would see their property tax bill go up by $27 a year?
Jennifer Kleitz
Yes.
Susan Morée:
Okay, all right. And does that, is the soil and water district, does that, is the boundary the same as the county boundary or is it?
Jennifer Kleitz
Actually, it's a little less because there's one little corner of Doňa Ana County that belongs to Caballo Soil and Water Conservation District.
Susan Morée:
Jennifer, is there anything I haven't asked you that you think I should have?
Jennifer Kleitz
One of the things I do want to talk about, just to know, there are other projects that we have. We have that Neighborwoods Project program, which plants the trees. We have a Seeds for Success program where we are growing natural grass seeds for the Bureau of Land Management. We have our Healthy Soil program, as I mentioned. We have the Interstate Stream Commission cover crop program.
Susan Morée:
Well, thank you so much, Jennifer, for taking the time to talk to us.
Jennifer Kleitz
You're welcome. Thank you very much for your call.
