HIDALGO COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – A stretch of highway near the Arizona-New Mexico line that’s known for dangerous dust storms could soon see some improvements when it comes to keeping that dust under control. “This started in 2014 when there was a seven-fatality crash event that happened down there,” said Trent Botkin, the Natural Resources Manager in the Environmental Bureau for the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT).
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There are frequent, sometimes deadly dust storms in southwest New Mexico that NMDOT and other agencies are now trying to stop. The dust comes from the Lordsburg Playa, a dried lakebed along I-10 less than ten miles east of the Arizona border.
The Bureau of Land Management and State Land Office owns most of that land, which is leased to cattle ranchers. However, grazing and other activities on the land have harmed nearby vegetation. “The impacts within the watershed by ranching, utilities, off-road vehicle use, and other use were actually making the situation much worse,” said Botkin…