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Grant County asked to allow no-cost rainwater-harvesting pilot on county land
Summary
Van Clothier of StreamDynamics asked the commission for permission to install a small, grant-funded stormwater/rainwater-harvesting pilot on Grant County property at no county cost. The project would capture a steady sump/street flow behind the county building, require a few days of work and finish before the grant cycle ends in October; the board reserved decision for an upcoming meeting.
Van Clothier of StreamDynamics told the board the nonprofit has secured a New Mexico Environment Department grant to build up to 100 rainwater-harvesting projects in Silver City and proposed one small pilot on Grant County land that would divert a chronic sump/storm flow into vegetated basins.
Clothier said the project would be at no cost to the county and that the town of Silver City has agreed to contribute equipment and labor; the group also has a DOT landscape agreement for work in state right-of-way and a cooperative agreement with a private landowner (In-N-Out Lube) to accept overflow. "What I'm asking for is for you to allow us to do this project on land on Grant County land," Clothier said.
Why it matters: presenters said the water is a nuisance that continually saturates a pavement area and accelerates asphalt deterioration; capturing it into a planted basin would reduce maintenance costs and support drought-resilient landscaping.
Project scope and timeline: Clothier estimated the StreamDynamics portion of the work at "a couple of thousand bucks" per site (covered by grant funds), said the construction will take a few days and must be spent out by the end of October when the grant cycle ends, and described on-site sediment and erosion controls and a first-storm follow-up inspection plan.
Questions from commissioners focused on the volume recoverable and erosion control. Clothier said the pilot would capture only a small daily flow but that the continual discharge was causing rapid pavement deterioration; the scheme uses swales, curb cuts and a basin to manage velocity and deposit sediment in designed locations. "We're going to carefully design this project to manage shear stress, sediment transport, and where the vegetation grows," he said.
Outcome and next steps: Clothier asked for county permission to proceed and said he will return on the regular meeting agenda for a formal vote; no board decision was recorded in the work session.
