Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

The Big Dig, it ain’t. But I’m still excited about it!

It represents potentially more water for the horses and increased grazing in an area the horses don’t use a lot because there’s not often water there. And it represents BLM keeping our mustangs’ welfare a priority, especially in this hot and dry year.

We went from this:

To this today:

It’s not done yet! This is looking from the “spillway” across the pond to the west – the same perspective as the photo above. Many thanks to C and J from the Forest Service who are honchoin’g the project and doing the dirt work!

C and J discussing the finer points of pond clean-out. C also was involved in coordinating the contractor hired to dig out the Round Top pond and the one double pond in 2009.

This is what I call simply the northwest pond, it being in the northwestern corner of Spring Creek Basin. This is looking southeastish across the basin. In the middle ground, you can see the twin buttes and part of Flat Top. Just left of the juniper tree in the foreground is the spillway from which I took the first two pix.

J pushing dirt.

There are basically two drainages that feed this pond, and he’s cleaning out in front of the smaller one, which you can see in front of the dozer. The other one is behind him, out of the picture.

Work should be finished on this pond tomorrow! I’ll post another pic or more later.

Also scheduled for dig-out is – at least – the trapsite pond, which is above Spring Creek Canyon (site of previous roundups). The roadside pond, which was about half dug out in 2010 (because it rained before it was completed), will get dug out if there’s time and/or it dries out more. The dirt of that pond, which went dry a month or so ago, is still damp about 4 inches down where the water dried up last. The Flat Top pond, which has been our priority to dig out since 2009, ends up holding some water when the monsoons kick in again. We’ll try to move that up to a June time-frame for next year; if the roadside pond doesn’t get dug out this year, there’s next year.

Director’s Challenge funds, awarded because of the Tres Rios Field Office’s partnership with Disappointment Wild Bunch Partners, are paying for this work!