July 18 —Tijeras A almost completed watershed restoration and bridge were put to the test last weekend as a flash flood surged through the village streets, raising Tijeras Creek to a peak of 9 feet in 15 minutes.
On Thursday morning, Bernalillo County Commissioner Eric Olivas, whose district encompasses Uptown and the East Mountains, and specialists convened outside Los Vecinos Community Center, just steps from a pedestrian bridge damaged by floodwaters on Saturday.
“The National Weather Service is calling this a 200-500 year flood event,” Olivas informed reporters. “I think it’s important to note that this is an event that is increasingly likely in the face of a changing climate, and we are dealing with those climate impacts right here in the East Mountains, right here in our community, and we have to step up and confront those impacts and fight climate change at the same time.”
Saturday’s storm in the East Mountains resulted in “unprecedented flooding,” according to Olivas. The water caused no injuries, but the bridge has been blocked.
The village of Tijeras had 3 inches of rain and hail in 30 minutes. The hurricane caused substantial damage to the Los Vecinos Community Center Bridge, which serves as a vital link between the community center and the surrounding A. Montoya Elementary and Roosevelt Middle Schools.
According to officials, Tijeras will provide a shuttle service for pupils traveling to school or summer activities until the bridge is fixed.
“Our main concern here is that we know this is a centralized hub for East Mountain residents, and we need people to understand that you can’t just drop your kids off and expect them to cross the creek,” said Andre Dickson, BernCo Parks, Recreation, and Open Space director.
Brian Lopez, BernCo Public Works technical services director, stated that work on the bridge is not projected to begin until the spring of 2026. Though it is not clear until the damages are examined, Lopez believes the entire bridge will need to be replaced.
“Our biggest obstacle in getting this bridge reconstructed is that our wait times for the construction material needed are quite long,” Lopez told me. “Most manufacturers estimate wait times of around a year. Simply simply, we cannot begin repairing this bridge until we have those materials.
While the damage was significant, Kali Bronson, stormwater program compliance lead, stated that it could have been worse if not for the recently completed Tijeras Creek Watershed Restoration Project.
“Our project was about 80-90% complete when the floodwaters from this weekend’s storm inundated the site,” Bronson informed us. “Although our project wasn’t complete, we did see that the restoration work that we have done still generally functioned exactly the way we were hoping they would.”
The project, which began in 2023, would restore Tijeras Creek to its historic floodplain, restoring the natural stream flow and lowering overall flood risk. The restoration cost $1,550,000 and was sponsored by the New Mexico River Stewards Grant, with extra financing from Bernalillo County.
