Amigos Bravos presents river restoration plan and asks Taos to clarify trail and road preferences

Stephen Fry, policy and project specialist with Amigos Bravos, told the Town Council the Rio Fernando de Taos Revitalization Collaborative has completed a federally approved watershed plan and a Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART planning grant covering the stretch from El Nogal Veil to Paseo, with emphasis on the Los Pondos to Witt Road reach.

"This stretch of the river coming through town... is encroaching on the river. It's a public safety concern," Fry said, describing erosion, stormwater pollution and places where cars have fallen into the channel. He told the council the planning work included community engagement with more than 150 survey responses, walking tours, and public workshops to identify opportunities and constraints.

Fry said the Bureau of Reclamation planning money made the project competitive for an implementation grant that could have provided up to $5 million, but the program was "frozen" at the federal level. To keep momentum, Taos County funded design and permitting work with ARPA dollars so the project will be shovel-ready when federal funding returns. The ARPA-backed design includes a recreational trail component required by the county, and Fry said the trail will be embedded in a river-health restoration design. He said the preliminary designs lay out four segment-specific options: status quo, convert the road to one-way to make room for trail/stream work, add a trail on both sides with connectors, or move the trail onto the north bank with conservation easements.

Council members asked whether annexation of parts of the canyon would be required to proceed. Fry said much of the corridor spans multiple jurisdictions — town, county, Forest Service, acequias and private landowners — and he described conversations with county staff about collaborative approaches. "If a runway is not plausible, which is by far the best idea to give us the most opportunity space to build something that's going to last long and be sustainable...some of the properties on the north side would want a conservation easement," he said, noting easements are effective but costly.

Council members urged the Collaborative to make sure local residents of the Canyon neighborhood lead community meetings, to coordinate with town planning and public works staff, and to give the council design options that reflect municipal preferences (for example, whether Los Pondos becomes a one-way road). Council members also discussed flood risk and the need to keep the river-health framing central to public outreach; Fry said the Collaborative will host fall and winter meetings and seek council guidance by the end of the year so designs can be finalized.

Fry said implementation funding is not in hand yet and that if a federal program returns it will likely require a 25% local match; he said the county's $200,000 contribution was intended to kick-start match fundraising. He asked the town for letters of support that would reduce match requirements and to participate in upcoming public meetings.