Have you wondered what the City of Albuquerque is doing to support sustainability? The Sustainability Office is leading the city government’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while growing our economy and protecting residents’ health.
What does the Sustainability Office do?
The Sustainability Office was created by Mayor Keller in 2019 and is housed in the Environmental Health Department. The office focuses on implementing projects and policies to equitably address climate change and environmental impacts across Albuquerque. One of the office’s major undertakings includes the development of the 2021 Climate Action Plan (CAP), whose core authors are 19 task force members representing frontline communities in Albuquerque. The 2021 CAP includes 50 strategies organized into seven categories. It is both a response to City Resolution R-19-187’s declaration of a climate emergency and an update of the city’s 2009 Climate Plan.
The office is headed by Sustainability Officer Kelsey Rader and has expanded to include Sustainability Specialist Denise Gonzalez, Sustainable Transportation Specialist Albert Lee and Sustainable Waste Specialist Sandra West. These staff members help implement the 2021 CAP goals and track progress for the public while taking guidance from community members. The office detailed recent progress in the first-ever CAP Implementation Report, which describes projects such as the expansion of publicly accessible, city-owned electric vehicle (EV) charging stations from two charging ports (aka plugs) to 36 ports as of July 2022. Other recent sustainability wins for Albuquerque include:
The Sustainability Office’s staff is looking forward to a year full of progress and new projects. For example, the office recently released heat-impact data collected in collaboration with NASA. The data will help staff decide where siting projects are most needed and better understanding the impact of heat-mitigation projects. In the transportation sector, residents can look forward to hearing more about EV rideshares and public transit access. In terms of waste reduction, the office is focusing on reducing food loss and waste and supporting community composting. Learn more about the Sustainability Office’s work.
Why are partners including the Water Authority important?
The success of citywide initiatives and goals rely on collaborations with partner organizations and support from the community. The Water Authority is a particularly important partner as water and waste are an integral part of many sustainability initiatives, including the mayor’s tree planting goal. The work that residents, the Water Authority, other like-minded organizations and the city are doing to reduce water waste and strategically utilize water in our homes and landscapes is an integral part of creating a healthy, resilient and equitable Albuquerque for all.
How can I stay informed or get involved?
To hear updates directly from the Sustainability Office, sign up for the Sustainability Office newsletter by emailing sustainability@cabq.gov. The office wants to hear from residents during quarterly CAP community engagement meetings and public surveys and is now asking for input on public transit and traffic safety issues. To share your input, please complete the survey this month (available in English and Spanish) and encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same. For those who want to dive into more information, please explore resources on the city’s website at www.cabq.gov/sustainability.
Albuquerque’s Sustainability Office (left to right) includes Sandra West, Kelsey Rader, Denise Gonzalez and Albert Lee.
With our hot summers and low precipitation, growing vegetables in NM can be challenging. This talk will provide strategies and recommendations for growers to cultivate a thriving vegetable harvest in the region. Discussion will include irrigation and infrastructure suggestions, as well as selection of vegetable varieties that are well-adapted to the area.
Instructor:Stephanie Walker, PhD. Professor and Vegetable Specialist, New Mexico State University, Extension Plant Sciences Department.
Maintaining Tree Health During Drought
Learn from Albuquerque’s leading tree expert how to identify drought stress in trees, understand their responses to drought, and implement strategies to keep them alive and thriving in hot, dry weather.
Instructor:Joran Viers, Board Certified Master Arborist and Municipal Specialist, International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). Senior Arborist, Legacy Tree Company, Albuquerque. Former City Forester, City of Albuquerque
Creating a Drought-Tolerant Refuge for Yourself and Wildlife
Instructor:Laurel Ladwig, M.S. She is the ABQ Backyard Refuge Program Director for the Friends of Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, a part-time faculty member in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, and Associate Director of the R.H. Mallory Center for Community Geography at the University of New Mexico and is enthusiastic about all opportunities to encourage people to develop a relationship with our wild neighbors.
Designing Resilient Landscapes: Plant Adaptations, Communities, and Selection for Arid Environments
Instructor:Maria Thomas is the Curator of Plants at the ABQ BioPark where she manages the botanical exhibits, plant collections, horticultural staff, and related programs for the 150-acre public park and garden. Additionally, Maria is an Adjunct Professor at the University of New Mexico in the Landscape Architecture department.
Climate-Ready Trees- Planting for a Warmer and (Hopefully) Shadier Future
Instructor:Marisa Y. Thompson, PhD Extension Urban Horticulture Specialist. New Mexico State University Department of Extension Plant Sciences, Los Lunas Agricultural Science Center, Think Trees NM, President of the Board (2023-current).
Plant Adaptations to Heat & Drought
Noticing the Ways Plants Thrive in our Yards and Natural Areas Learn how to Recognize Drought-Adapted Traits in Everyday Plants all Around Us.
Instructor:Marisa Y. Thompson, PhD Extension Urban Horticulture Specialist. New Mexico State University Department of Extension Plant Sciences, Los Lunas Agricultural Science Center, Think Trees NM, President of the Board (2023-current).
Hose Bib Tree Irrigation System for Your Trees: Simple Systems for Thriving Trees!
Instructor:Richard Perce has twenty years’ experience working with trees and irrigation here in New Mexico. He is a former certified arborist and currently holds the Irrigation Association’s Landscape Irrigation Auditor certification and is a certified QWEL irrigation instructor. He worked as a landscape contractor for more than a decade and is the Water Authority’s former Irrigation Efficiency Specialist. He also has a Masters of Community and Regional Planning from UNM and currently works at Anthropopulus Design + Planning.
Passive Rainwater Harvesting
This workshop introduces participants to the principles and practices of passive rainwater harvesting. Attendees will learn how to capture, slow, spread, and infiltrate rainwater into the landscape using simple, low-cost methods such as swales, berms, and basins. The workshop emphasizes working with the natural flow of water to reduce runoff, prevent erosion, and support healthy soil and plant life. By implementing passive rainwater harvesting, participants can conserve water, and create more resilient, self-sustaining landscapes.
Instructors:Anthony Luketich, Natural Resource Scientist, Anthony Luketich is a Natural Resources Scientist for Bernalillo County where he is focused on water conservation and water-wise landscape practices. He received a degree in Watershed Management and Ecohydrology from the University of Arizona where he studied the relationship between trees and water. Anthony has worked across the Southwest US as a research scientist as well as a water harvesting field technician where he became a certified water harvesting practitioner.
Bobby Mullin, Natural Resource Scientist, Bernalillo County Stormwater Quality Program Bobby Mullin is a Natural Resource Scientist for Bernalillo County in the Stormwater Quality Program. He focuses on improving stormwater quality in the Middle Rio Grande Watershed and promoting sustainable and resilient landscapes using Green Stormwater Infrastructure and rainwater harvesting. Bobby received his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from Bucknell University in 2011. Before joining Bernalillo County, he had worked as an environmental consultant remediating contaminated soil and groundwater and as a Research Scientist studying the impacts of climate change, drought and plant mortality in New Mexico ecosystems.
Xeriscape: The Desert Friendly Yard
Join us for learning all of the tips, and benefits of our Xeriscape program!
3 Steps to Landscape Success
Service, Settings, and Selection are the keys to landscape success!
