Citizen Journal
Each of us has a story to tell, and here's where you can do it. Send in your personal experience to share with others, so that we all get a better understanding of what it's like to live in Rio Rancho. Journals are a good way to communicate your feelings, and they are not limited or edited by us in anyway. The only rules are:
1: Only submit appropriate content. By that we mean you should submit only issues pertaining to the city of Rio Rancho, and its citizens.
2: No profanity will be allowed.
3. Include your name.
We do not edit except to control length. We ask that you keep your comments to a maximum of 500 words. Your comments will be posted "as is", but we do reserve the right to not post them if they are deemed inappropriate. Thanks for your submissions!
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My compliments to Mayor Williams and the city council for their patience and endurance for listening to more than four hours input from the public some of which was constructive and some of which was abusive. Now that everyone has vented it’s time to roll up our sleeves and start working the problem.
First, let us refrain from playing the “blame game”. Placing blame will not solve the problem. The situation has existed for many years and will neither be resolved overnight nor without cost.
So just what is the problem? It is damage caused by very large quantities of fast moving water. Yes, this is obvious, but taking a little time to think about the obvious may trigger some ideas for remedies. Water in motion has kinetic energy which is defined in the physics books as one half of the mass times the square of the velocity. If I double the mass I double the kinetic energy, but if I double the velocity I get 4 times the kinetic energy. There is nothing anyone can do about the mass of flowing water. The most significant variable in this equation is the velocity of the water flow and there are things that can be done to slow it down. Slow moving water carries less material (less mass) and is easier to steer into desirable channels.
Since resources are limited I suggest that top priority should be given to improvements that will slow the speed of flowing water, such as ponds, check dams, and rock and gravel placement. These things add friction to the flow of water and more friction makes less velocity. This effort should start at the higher elevations so that the flow has less opportunity to pick up speed and material. Second priority should be given to steering the slowed water into desirable channels.
Pavement of roads is desirable because it controls dust and reduces wear and tear on vehicles. However, pavement does nothing to impede the flow of water (less friction) and should, therefore, be given lower priority. Besides, there is a zero cost remedy to wash boarding and dust on unpaved roads ---- driving slower. Kinetic energy has an effect on road surfaces too.
It seems to me that of all of the proposed improvements, pavement will incur the highest cost. I suggest that if the focus remains on runoff management and pavement is deferred then we can derive the most benefit at a lower overall cost.
Dave Baldwin
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The attached is a video of what I call the Acapulco River. This video is from the July 8Th Monsoon storm. I have several other video's of the other monsoon's that caused flooding. This is the street in front of my house. My house was built in the middle of an Arroyo. For the City to issue building permits in the middle of an Arroyo is plain criminal. When I moved into my house (second owner) I asked if my house was in a flood zone, I was told no by my Title Company and my Insurance Company. Because of that fact I couldn't get flood Insurance.