Public water, public spaces

UNM Duck Pond

UNM Duck Pond

My University of New Mexico office is a short walk from the campus Duck Pond, which though it was never an official name, we’ve come to capitalize. It’s a very important place.

I often come to campus on Saturdays to write, and on those Saturdays I generally take keyboard breaks to go for a walk. Invariably, there’s a wedding party or a quinceañera gathered for pictures. In two walks this afternoon I have counted five such gatherings. Sometimes it’s a Krazy Party Bus parked nearby, or a stretch limo. And always the happy people.

Weekdays, it’s surrounded by people sitting and eating and reading and kissing and doing all the things people do while being, by choice, next to water.

I am prepared, with no other evidence than this, to declare the Duck Pond and the green grounds that surround it an extraordinarily valuable use of our precious water. I spend a lot of time thinking about the valuation of water, both cultural and monetary.

It’s no Bellagio Fountains, but this seems to me like some seriously high-value water.

6 Comments

  1. The Duck Pond is also a gathering place for people of several generations, young children through students to grandmothers. All are welcome and all enjoying in each one’s way. Flowing water often washes daily tensions away.
    Gratitude for our water.

  2. The UNM Duck Pond is a bit of a myth. It was designed and constructed in the mid 1970s, and there was never an intent for sustainability, economically or environmentally. The pond is a space that people enjoy, likely because of the unexpectedly lush oasis in the center of the paved campus. However, there is a good reason such an oasis is unexpected. The arid climate of the region (UNM only recieves 8 inches of rain per year), including the isolation of the pond and surrounding lawn area from other green space, require extreme use fuel energy, human management, and water consumption, in order to maintain an appearance of nature.

    Did you know that the duck pond is filled with potable water from UNM Well #7 (which is under the tennis courts)? As soon as the water is pumped (with out of date and energy consumptive generators) into the pond, it becomes immediately contaminated. It is reused for irrigation, but that irrigation contributes to significant erosion into the pond, due to the steep slopes built around the pond. UNM pumps about 276 million gallons of water from its wells every year to supply the campus. Approximately, 212,000,000 gals are used for utilities and irrigation, which includes the duck pond.

    Every 2-3 years, the duck pond is pumped in order to remove sludge from its bottom. The sludge is a result of processed food products fed to the ducks by passersby, as well as duck feces. The sludge usually measures 12-18 inches. During the 2015 pumping, the sludge measured 18 inches thick, and was removed by a private company called A1 Pumping, which takes the organic material to drying fields south of Belen, NM, where it is sun dried, then combined with other materials to create gardening compost. That’s a lot of effort to support a disney-like park in the middle of the desert!

    Further, these energy and financial inputs are expected to rise as anticipated future investments which include replacement of the timber lining around the perimeter of the water, replacement of the bridge, new outdoor furniture, upgraded pumps, and grading to make it deeper, are set to cost close to $1.5 million according to the Physical Plant Department.

    The park like design reminiscent of British estates, does not support native flora and fauna, but instead is outdated, forced, and consumptive. The UNM Duck Pond as it is now is an economic drain and an unethical space, especially given its location at a research university that should encourage creative solutions to visionary improvements to the built and social experience of the campus. While the area is beloved by users in its current state, it has extreme potential to better serve the university, surrounding neighborhoods, infrastructure needs such as flood catchment, and urban wildlife.

    On a research university campus, students and faculty should demand a better use of space, energy, and money. The duck pond is a great opportunity to create a low impact rain garden (the rooftop of the Zimmerman Library alone could catch 476K gallons of water to irrigate a xeriscaped park), utilizing skills of the Biology, Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Engineering Departments. In fact, in a study at University of Washington in the 1990s by Gordon Orions, it was shown that mental well being is better served not by lawns and trees but by shrubs and grasses (of course shade structures and native trees would need to be integrated), and a 2007 study at University of Queensland reiterated these findings. In short, UNM deserves better, and can do better.

    For those who are interested in lobbying the UNM and the Physical Plant Department to rethink the UNM Duck Pond to better use our funds and our space, contact me! meghosterman@gmail.com

  3. How about beginning with the mute egregious offender on campus, the massive lawns around the presidents house, complete with European style “keep of the grass” signage.

    Also, the UNM school of architecture regularly assigns students to redesign existing spaces on campus. Look there for ideas?

  4. There’s lots of examples of waste and resource misuse on the UNM campus. However, it is my opinion that the overwhelming ignorance surrounding the UNM Duck Pond, as well as its role as one of the primary identities of the UNM campus, make it a great opportunity to showcase student and faculty expertise and vision for the future of the campus and ABQ.

  5. I agree with both John Fleck and Megan Megan: water landscapes naturally attract people who are soothed and refreshed, but having a such a large water intensive feature sends the wrong message. I think a smaller, more sustainable pond would be a solution. New Mexico Tech located in the desert above the flood plain also sports huge water-intensive lawns, a 18-hole golf course streams and lakes — all by means of constant expenditures of potable ground water.
    Another wrong and wasteful message even though it’s a pleasant green Eden (where such don’t belong).

  6. I agree with both John Fleck and Megan Megan: water landscapes naturally attract people who are soothed and refreshed, but having a such a large water intensive feature sends the wrong message. I think a smaller, more sustainable pond would be a solution. New Mexico Tech located in the desert above the flood plain also sports huge water-intensive lawns, a 18-hole golf course streams and lakes — all by means of constant expenditures of potable ground water.
    Another wrong and wasteful message even though it’s a pleasant green Eden (where such don’t belong).

Comments are closed.