Our Land: Urban Flood Control

May 10, 2019 – On this month’s episode of Our Land, we visit with engineers from the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority. AMAFCA was created in 1963 to protect life and property, and for decades it moved water as quickly as possible out of the city and into the Rio Grande.

Since the 1980s, things have been changing, due to the need to comply with water quality regulations. One of the keys to cleaning the water is slowing it down. And now, instead of seeing stormwater as a nuisance, it can be a resource. Ideally, it could be slowed, cleaned and used in irrigation canals. Or, the flood control agency and the drinking water authority can work together, to let water percolate into the ground to help restore aquifer levels.

Guests:
Jerry Lovato, executive engineer
Nolan Bennett, field engineer