Natural Resources
Our River and Watershed
The Santa Fe River Watershed spans over 180,000 acres (285 square miles), encompassing the Santa Fe River and all its contributing streams, arroyos, and watercourses. Within the City of Santa Fe, the watershed collects water flowing from open spaces, streets, parking lots, buildings, and residential areas. Essentially, all water within this area drains into and becomes part of the interconnected river system and watershed. Recognizing the importance of this resource, the City, led by the River and Watershed Section of the Public Works Department is implementing a wide array of initiatives aimed at enhancing the health and functionality of the river and its broader watershed.
Santa Fe receives most of its rainfall during intense and infrequent precipitation events. Impervious or hardened surfaces cause water to move quickly across the landscape, instead of infiltrating into the soil. As runoff travels across these surfaces, collects trash and pollutants before entering our waterways impacting surface water quality. Because these smooth surfaces lack natural obstructions to slow or spread the water, runoff moves faster and with enough power to cause significant erosion.
Natural Resources
Reducing Pollution in Urban Runoff
The City of Santa Fe is required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to hold a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit to discharge stormwater runoff into waterways. This program mandates that the City implement a comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP), ensuring that pollutants found in urban runoff are reduced before entering our local arroyos and the Santa Fe River.
The City manages flood control and stormwater conveyance infrastructure such as culverts, bridges, inlets, pipes, as well as our natural conveyance channels like arroyos and the Santa Fe River. The River & Watershed Section, along with the Complete Streets Division, is tasked with assessing, managing, and funding repair projects that help maintain the stability and health of these vital conveyances, ensuring their continued function for the city.
Find out more about the City’s stormwater management program at santafenm.gov/rivers
Green Infrastructure
Using Nature to Manage Stormwater
The City of Santa Fe has long been an innovator of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) looking at a landscape-wide approach to stormwater management in areas within parks, rights of way, and open spaces to infiltrate and clean stormwater before it enters local waterways.
The City prioritizes stormwater infiltration on all Public Works projects. These projects manage stormwater at the source by encouraging runoff to slow, spread, and sink as it moves across the landscape. These sites infiltrate and treat over two million gallons of stormwater per year and provide many other benefits including: erosion control, wildlife habitat, pollution reduction, shade, and natural beauty.
As part of this effort, the City has several large-scale innovative projects underway that will help recharge the landscape, infiltrate stormwater to local low-lying aquifers, provide dual purpose spaces for recreation, and promote biodiversity and habitat in our urban scape.
Green Infrastructure
Highlighted Project: Ashbaugh Park Stormwater Infiltration
The purpose of this project is to address flooding in the Cerrillos Road corridor and surrounding neighborhoods by capturing, detaining, and infiltrating stormwater in Ashbaugh Park. The project will route flow into the northern portion of Ashbaugh and install a large-scale infiltration gallery with capacity to store water underground, while providing new park amenities for the community.
This new design will provide educational opportunities related to water resource management that highlight the social, cultural, and historical importance of the Acequia Madre. It will also decrease pollutant loads at the point of discharge into the Arroyo de San Antonio and Santa Fe River and support locally adapted plants, which in turn provide habitat for local wildlife and contribute to greater urban biodiversity.
In plain language, the project will reduce flooding by collecting stormwater, temporarily holding it, and allowing it to soak into the ground.
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Green Infrastructure
Highlighted Project: Marc Brandt Park Stormwater Drainage Improvements
Like the Ashbaugh Park Project, this project looks to improve the conveyance of storm flows through Marc Brandt Park while providing infiltrating surface storage in the upper portion of the park and a piped conveyance through the lower portion of the park that will act as a regional flood control by attenuating peak discharge downstream. This park will deliver multiple benefits including upgraded park amenities such as seating and gathering areas and improved pollinator habitat.
In plain language: The project will help manage stormwater and reduce flooding by slowing, storing, soaking in, and safely moving rainwater through the park.
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Green Infrastructure
Rain Gardens
Rain gardens are a great tool for capturing and filtering stormwater. They allow water to slowly infiltrate into the ground, keeping pollutants out of the Santa Fe River. Rain gardens also help us recharge Santa Fe's shallow aquifers. The City and its partners, including the Santa Fe Watershed Association and Keep Santa Fe Beautiful, have built over 20 rain gardens since 2012. You may have parked near one at Herb Martinez Park or walked past our newest rain garden on East Alameda without noticing, but these gardens are capturing and treating over half a million gallons of stormwater per year, according to SFWA.
Green Infrastructure
Runoff to Roots Program
As supporters of green stormwater infrastructure innovation, the City’s River and Watershed Program recently launched its Runoff to Roots Program (2026) which expands the efforts of the Alameda Rain Garden Program to areas beyond the Alameda road corridor.
The Runoff to Roots Program supports neighborhoods and individuals that wish to install rain gardens in public spaces such as city parks, open spaces, and rights of way. These rain gardens can collect and infiltrate stormwater runoff from impervious areas to improve water quality, attenuate peak runoff volumes, increase biodiversity, and decrease urban heat islands. The City of Santa Fe will help design, install, and fund these projects, while volunteers commit to maintaining the facility.
Partnerships
Partnership Highlight: Siringo Rain Garden Control Study
The City of Santa Fe’s River and Watershed Section, in collaboration with the University of New Mexico Biology Department and The Rain Catcher Inc., has helped launch a pilot study to inform how the city manages stormwater. Five specialized rain garden basins have been installed along Siringo Road, between Pacheco Street and Calle Contendo.
The two-year study aims to determine how effectively these rain gardens enhance ground water recharge, and how long they retain moisture to support urban vegetation through passive irrigation at various depths. To ensure the accuracy of the hydrological data, the basins will remain vegetation-free during the initial monitoring period. Once the data collection is complete, the basins will be planted with trees, shrubs, and fungi suited to the observed moisture conditions. This study will serve as a blueprint for future rain gardens throughout the city and helping inform how landscapes are designed and managed across the City parks and open spaces. Because urban stormwater carries with it various toxins and pollutants, further studies will be conducted to track these pollutants which will facilitate continued research in bioremediation efforts throughout the city as well.
Partnerships
Partnership Highlight: Mary Esther Gonzales Senior Center
The City’s Parks and Open Space Division collaborated with constituents and visitors of the Senior Center to install a series of rain garden basins to collect roof runoff that would otherwise flow directly to the parking lot. Instead, these rain gardens will slow and sink roof runoff into the landscape providing passive water harvesting and irrigation for newly planted vegetation. City staff also worked with seniors to decorate the birdhouses planted throughout the site to provide nesting for local species.
How You Can Help
Keep our water clean and our community healthy
Graphic by Stormwater Santa Fe