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Drone mapping shows landfill has used roughly half of remaining airspace; staff estimate ~12 months left at current rates
Summary
GIS staff presented drone photogrammetry showing remaining municipal solid waste airspace fell from about 41 feet (March 2025) to roughly 21.5 feet (March 2026), a change of about 20.5 feet over 12 months that implies roughly a year of remaining capacity at current disposal rates.
Town GIS staff showed drone-based photogrammetry to the Taos Regional Landfill Board on April 16, illustrating how elevations and airspace at the active cell have changed over the past 12 months.
Tim Corner said the maps and elevation cross sections show the active area (Cell 4A) consuming roughly half of its remaining vertical airspace: "we've gone from roughly 41 feet on average to right around 21 feet, 21 and a half feet." Using a simple elevation-average method, Corner calculated a change of about 20.5 feet over the past year — roughly 1.7 feet per month — and estimated just over 12 months of remaining airspace at that rate. He noted his method is a simpler estimate and that the annual volumetric topo produced by Sauder, Miller & Associates will provide a more precise remaining-volume calculation.
Corner also explained operational practices tied to the measurements (scraping daily cover from future cells, compaction practices) and recommended continued monitoring. Board members used the presentation to confirm cell sizes and overall parcel acreage (the existing site was estimated around 100–105 acres with 7 permitted cells and remaining future cell area of about 21 acres based on staff quick analysis).
