Project Overview

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The Madrid Low Impact Development Stormwater Project is located within the community of Madrid in Santa Fe County, New Mexico.

Through a community planning effort beginning in 2009, the AML Program learned that Madrid experiences significant property damage from insufficient stormwater runoff management. Properties are flooded and filled with excess sediment. These problems are made worse by the presence of unclaimed coal piles (gob) along the east slope. Furthermore, during the historic coal mining era, the Madrid Arroyo was straightened resulting in channel down cutting, narrowing of the floodplain and excessive bank erosion.

To alleviate these issues, the AML Program proposes two projects in Madrid:

• East Slope Catchment Project
• Arroyo Restoration Project

East Slope Catchment
The East Slope Catchment Project will be carried out on the east ridge of the community and extend west toward the Madrid Arroyo. It will primarily focus on improving stormwater management, but will also improve emergency vehicle access and aid community food production. To accomplish these goals, low impact development practices, including water harvesting, and conventional engineering techniques will be utilized. Rain gardens, cobbled swales, detention basins, retention ponds, drop inlets, and valley gutters will be employed at appropriate locations throughout the project area.

Arroyo Restoration
The Arroyo Restoration Project will focus on restoring the Madrid Arroyo to a healthy stream system. This will increase water infiltration and aid in groundwater recharge. Plans for Madrid Arroyo include reintroducing meandering, widening floodplains, and lowering banks.

Preliminary Design Phase
The AML Program and its contractor, Rangeland Hands, Inc, began the preliminary design phase in August 2012. This phase consists of:

• Assessing the opportunities for low impact stormwater conveyance, stormwater harvesting and induced-meandering stream stabilization in Madrid, to include harvesting of stormwater for native and edible vegetation and the potential for individual or collective roof runoff cisterns as part of a comprehensive approach to community stormwater management, and
• Preparing preliminary designs and analysis of low impact stormwater improvements, including integration with conventional stormwater structures.

NOTE: Administrative questions and/or comments contact: Dina Vigil @ 505.476.3430 or e-mail Technical questions and/or comments contact: Sarah McGrath @ 505.476.3408 or e-mail

Year Completed:
Cost: $
Project Manager: Sarah McGrath

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