Tabosa Grass, the Grassland Indicator Species

The Painted Pony Resort's grassland restoration project is aimed at restoring the native grasslands once so common through out New Mexico and the southwest.  In the segment of the San Simon riverbed on the estate the major grass species is Tabosa,  Pleuraphis mutica. This drought tolerant grass species is a major component of the grasslands and as restoration work proceeds this species is a useful qualitative indicator species of the restoration process.

Slowly new Tabosa grass is moving up out of the riverbed and back onto the landscape where grazers are excluded.  Below is a photograph from the riverbed showing complete ground coverage while the next image is from a bench above the riverbed where  grasses are being recovered.  The presence of new stands of Tabosa grass indicate that the seed reservoir concept is producing results.  While the topsoil restoration barriers have produced annual grasses during their first year, the eventual presence of the perennial Tabosa grass along the barriers will mark the next step in the restoration process and a shift from annuals to perennial grasses.

Tabosa grass in the San Simon riverbed (the seed reservoir)

Tabosa grass on the upland benches

Odile's Gift to the Twin Cities of Portal Rodeo

Hurricane Odile arrived from the Pacific after moving across northern Mexico and southern Arizona.  Its' arrival began as a slow march of cloud cover up the San Simon valley and over the mountains.  The resulting sunset was a multicolored event that belied the amount of rain that was to fall.  The first 2 days of rain were light at the Painted Pony Resort where a modest 0.11" and 0.26" of rain were recorded.  Then the main mass of the storm arrived bringing significant amounts of rainfall to the area with reported 1 day totals between 4 - 5 inches of rain around the valley.  Cave Creek Canyon experienced serious flooding as did areas of the valley including highway 80.  The main mass of the storm delivered 3.34" of rain to the estate over a 24 hr period and then began to taper off with a final days total of 0.41".  The total accumulated rainfall for the storm on the estate was 4.17" bringing the yearly reported total for station NM-HD-17 to 12.54".

As shown in the images below, water flow across the landscape (flooding) was confined to 2 areas where an old drainage from the west crosses the estate on its way to the San Simon river bed.  Experiencing mostly sheet flooding water depth reached a maximum depth of 1-2', although wide swaths of the road were flooded.  Of course the riverbed itself as conduit for water from up the valley (to the south) had several feet of water and the east side of the estate is currently inaccessible.  The check dams, tumbleweed garlands, and topsoil restoration barriers preformed well and all were in place after the storm.  Capturing sediment and slowing water flow these structures protected segments of the road and barren areas of the landscape slowing the water and depositing sediment.  One problem arroyo along Painted Pony Rd. collected about a foot of sediment during the storm demonstrating the efficacy of water management efforts on the estate.

The arrival of Odile was heralded by a multicolored sunset over the San Simon valley.

After the big rain - looking west at the flow across Nighthawk Rd.

After the big rain - looking south at the flow across Painted Pony Rd.

After the big rain - an old drainage that has good grass cover.

After the big rain - a check dam with tumbleweed garland and newly collected sediment along Painted Pony Road.

After the big rain - performance of topsoil restoration barrier installed last year.

Rangeland Rehabilitation: Stabilizing Arroyos

Arroyos in the desert southwest are major conduits of water across the landscape and during the rainy seasons can be major sources of erosion on a lightly vegetated landscape.  On the 756 acres of the Painted Pony Resort just several arroyos contribute to the majority of erosional damage on the estate.  These arroyos collect water from the west flanks of the Peloncillo mountains which is concentrated into 3 arroyos by bridges along the old El Paso and Southwestern Railroad running along the base of the mountains.  The water collected on the up slope side of the railroad bed is funneled through the bridges and across the property down these 3 arroyos eventually reaching the San Simon Riverbed.  The concentrated and rapidly flowing water erodes both down through the soils and also moves the arroyos laterally.  The high velocity water makes roads on the east side of the estate impassible and washes out culverts and crossings which require significant repair work.  While the changes in drainage patterns as a result of the railroad bridges is beyond one persons ability to easily change, the arroyos resulting from a century of landscape modification can be managed to reduce the damage caused by concentrated high velocity water.  

One of several arroyo management techniques in use requires stabilization of the arroyo banks.  Over 10' deep in places on the estate, arroyo banks frequently collapse and stabilization would reduce the amount of soil eroded during the rains.  But what sort of stabilization technique is applicable?  Being in favor of utilizing low cost materials that are available on the landscape this is the approach most frequently chosen.  Many times people toss in whatever garbage is available into arroyos to slow water flow and protect the banks, but this approach results in an arroyo strewn with leftover wood and metal products which randomly catch sediment and is unsightly (the out of sight out of mind approach).  An alternative approach is to utilize plants for stabilization.  In this case, a native species of ground spreading gourd Cucurbita sp.. 

Members of this genus are low growing ground covering annuals and perennials, in many species the fruit is edible and include cultivars of squash and pumpkin.  Adapted to arid climates and growing well in sandy soils they can be found along roadsides and the gourds may be collected in the late summer.  Producing about 300 seeds/gourd, 3 species of Cucurbita are found on the estate, Cucurbita digitata , Cucurbita foetidissima, and an unidentified species.  The green developing gourds turn yellow when dried and are easily spotted on the landscape for collection.  Arroyo stabilization requires harvesting the gourds and extracting the seeds which are then planted high along the edges of arroyos.  The gourd produces a taproot allowing it anchor itself deeply in soil ensuring it will not wash out with periodic high water and hold the soil.  The long vines it produces cover the ground, absorbing energy and slowing water, and will hang along vertical surfaces allowing its large leaves to protect the underlying soil, reducing soil loss.

Previous tests with planted Cucurbita along the entrance driveway resulted in plant coverage over areas of barren ground which has allowed additional grass to establish itself.  So this is being expanded to treat problem arroyos on the estate.  Collected seeds were planted at about 50 locations along a segments of 2 deep arroyos at the bottom to the top at a depth of 1-2".  Starting at the old bridge, quarter sections of gourds were cut and planted along the banks for a distance of several hundred feet.  Next years crop of gourds should spread downstream with the goal of creating more plants that will stabilize these problem arroyos.

Fruit from C. digitata, C. foetidissima, and an unknown species harvested from the estate.

Looking downstream along a problem arroyo, treated by planting native gourds .

Looking upstream at an old El Paso and Southwestern railroad bridge that funnels water creating problem arroyos.

Native Cucurbita along an arroyo showing how the vines and leaves provide cover for developing grasses.

Weeds

As a result of 5+ inches of rain in one month (August) the weeds have gone to town.  I hand pull most weeds so I have material for the topsoil restoration barriers but this is getting ridiculous.

This area around the bungalow, inside and outside the wall, was weeded numerous times this summer.  Three times for tumbleweed and other volunteers, and now for the annual finger grass that mysteriously grew after the last herbicide treatment.  Fortunately, finger grass is an annual and will die on its own after seeding and it is easy to pull, so I'll be spending the rest of the day pulling grass.

Partially cleared Finger grass, an annual grass growing around the bungalow.

cleared of weeds.

Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Days 2014

Another great community event this weekend.  The Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Days are a yearly event sponsored by local interests to celebrate the natural and cultural heritage of the area.  Starting Friday evening with a reception and keynote address by a climate scientist from Tucson.  Saturday was filled with talks ranging from C.S. Fly to soil mapping in Arizona and New Mexico and a special kids area with activities was hosted by local educators.  Lunch was catered by the Rodeo Tavern with tasty southwestern style chicken fajitas and eggplant casserole.  The rain held off, though we were hoping, and Sundays scheduled walk at Faraway ranch and the wildflower walk up Cave Creek had nice cool temperatures.  This year marked support for the event by Hidalgo county lodgers tax, as well as other local businesses, which means the event is becoming self sustaining.  This bodes well for future Heritage days and I certainly look forward to the event every year.

The craft and farmers market.

Waiting for the talks to begin.

Friends of Cave Creek Canyon display board.

Speakers and presentations.

Preparing for the Monsoon Rains: Arroyo Stabilization

A number of small arroyos along Painted Pony Road contribute to road damage when the monsoons arrive.  By funneling water onto the road during a rain storm, it erodes the surface and leaves the corner a muddy mess.  To mitigate this problem tumbleweed garlands were created last year and placed in a number of arroyos along with check dams in an attempt to slow the water, rebuild the arroyos, and protect the road.  The only problem last year were the cattle, which ate many of the tumbleweed garlands mistaking them for brightly wrapped feed.  But this year the cattle stayed away from the road (fencing helps) and a new crop of tumbleweed was ready for harvest.  Tumbleweed growing along the flanks of the river bed was harvested and again wrapped with twine to create long garlands.  These were then placed in the problem arroyos on the upslope side of the road.  The check dams were then reinforced with new rock bringing the heights above last years collected sediment.  Although a slow process, this method of filling in small arroyos helps with the yearly erosion problems and combined with a check dam along the outside corner of the road to catch additional sediment the corner is in much better condition.

Harvesting tumble weed for arroyo garlands.

The same arroyo as shown below with rock added to the check dam with installed tumble weed garland.

A problem arroyo early in the treatment phase.  Note small check dam.

Rock soil barrier at the corner of Painted Pony Road.  Note 2 layers of rock as the barrier stops sediment from eroding the barrier must be raised.