Rio Rancho Earth Festival 2008

SSCAFCA booth at the Rio Rancho Earth Festival May 2008

Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful - Mesa Clean Up 2008

Below are pictures portraying SSCAFCA’s participation in the spring 2008 mesa clean up project sponsored by Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful (KRRB). SSCAFCA has always been and will continue to be a strong supporter of KRRB and we look forward to our next joint venture.

Bosque Clean Up

SSCAFCA , the City of Rio Rancho and the Friends of Rio Rancho Open Space joined together in 2004 in an effort to remove non-native species and trash from the bosque at the outlet to the Venada Arroyo. Because SSCAFCA was given an easement over this area, SSCAFCA committed $20,000 to this effort of which $19,995.91 was expended. A total of 8.5 acres of bosque were able to be cleared which means that storm water can flow unrestricted to the Rio Grande. The Venada outlet is now free of non-native vegetation. This project was completed in March of 2005.

Bat Houses

In conjunction with Michelle McCaulley of the Rio Grande Basin Bat Project   http://www.riograndebasinbats.com, SSCAFCA is employing bat houses at various facilities in an effort control airborne insects which may pose health problems. SSCAFCA has been working with Michelle for several years as a supporting member of the bat project as well as providing locations for bat houses in an attempt to encourage bat habitat near our facilities.

To read more about bats and the B.A.T.S program (Biological Alternatives To Spraying), click here.

West Nile Virus Update

Residents of New Mexico continue to be concerned with the West Nile virus this year. For the last three years the Southern Sandoval County Arroyo Flood Control Authority (SSCAFCA) has been using mosquito dunks in facilities that retain water after a flood event, for mosquito control. This year, SSCAFCA is augmenting the dunks by using Agnique MMF. The mosquito dunks only target the larval stage of the mosquito while the MMF is a mono-molecular film that targets the larval, pupal, and adult stage of the mosquito. The Operations and Maintenance staff has been employing the mosquito dunks every 21-25 days since the beginning of March in facilities that retain water from a storm event. The Roskos Field Wetland and Detention Pond are stocked with gambusia mosquito fish which eat mosquito larvae.