Where: Mora County, New Mexico
Problem: Mora County, New Mexico struggles to protect its watersheds and stay economically viable.
Solution: RCAC staff worked with Collaborative Visions to secure funding and conducted leadership training to help the organization build capacity.

Mora County residents face multiple pressures: extreme drought, looming forest fires, climate change, decreasing population and the threat and lure of oil and gas companies. Mora County has a small population of about 5,000 spread across a relatively large geographical area. Residents are very-low income and are of Spanish and Native American descent. Most speak Castilian Spanish as their first language. The community, led by the nonprofit organization Collaborative Visions, has taken a long-term and multifaceted approach to preserve its environmental and economic health.

RCAC has worked with Mora County community members for nearly 20 years, primarily with small community volunteer water boards, to successfully complete infrastructure projects. RCAC staff also conducted Leadership Institute training. RCAC partnered Collaborative Visions during the Leadership Institute when the class chose to form the Mora Watershed Alliance to build capacity to address the community’s critical watershed issues; RCAC assisted the alliance to submit a grant application to fund work to protect the region’s water quality.

RCAC staff also helped the organization secure a USDA Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant to fund forming several cooperative groups. One will connect local farmers to residents who want to purchase fresh produce; another will connect tourists with activities and tour packages in the region; and another will look for ways to utilize woody biomass for production rather than burning it. The group continues to seek new economic development prospects inspired by the Wealth Works model, which connects a community’s assets to market demands.

“RCAC has provided excellent facilitation to assist Mora County in organizing both domestic water and leadership efforts,” said Marianna Lands, Collaborative Visions co-founder. “The excellent facilitation capacity of RCAC has provided new opportunities for the people of Mora to work together in creating a healthier community.”