Restoration continues along the decommissioned natural gas pipeline at the northern sections of the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Courtesy/NPS
VCNP News:
JEMEZ SPRINGS — Work has begun on the second phase of decommissioning the retired natural gas pipeline that cuts across the northern sections of the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP).
This phase focuses on restoring natural ecological processes to a four-mile-long section disturbed by the construction of the pipeline more than 70 years ago, including reducing erosion, reconnecting wetlands, recontouring to promote natural revegetation, and removing evidence of the access road.
The pipeline, built in the 1940s by the US Department of Energy to transport natural gas to Los Alamos National Laboratory, was retired last year, and the above-ground parts of the pipeline were removed and concrete injected in underground sections that cross beneath perennial streams.
The National Park Service (NPS) and the New Mexico Gas Company have worked together to develop the restoration plan. The plan covers rehabilitating the landscape along the western four miles of the pipeline route within the park, from the western boundary to the intersection of the VC-08 and VC-09 roads.
The reclamation activities, funded entirely by New Mexico Gas Company, will involve smoothing out the old roadbed, removing berms, installing water bars and plugs, removing culverts, reconnecting wetlands bisected by the route, tilling and harrowing the soil in the reclaimed sections and replanting with native plant seeds. Once restoration work is completed, the route will be closed to vehicle traffic, allowing the vegetation to regrow.
The work is expected to be mostly completed by the end of November. National Park Service resource managers will monitor the restoration effort to evaluate vegetation establishment and ensure that erosion reduction measures are successful.
