Valencia County, NM Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)
Key Facts
- Enforcing agency
- Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District, P&Z
- Trigger
- New subdivision plat application
- Design storm
- 100-year frequency storm computations required
- Discharge ban
- Sediment into watercourses, channels, floodplains
- Penalty
- Up to $5,000 civil penalty per parcel
- Citation
- § 151.156(N); penalty § 151.999
Summary
Any new subdivision in unincorporated Valencia County must show how construction will prevent erosion under County Code § 151.156(N). The Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District reviews a terrain management plan before the county approves a plat, checking road grades, borrow areas, culvert inlets and outlets, and disturbed-slope stabilization so cuts, fills and grading do not wash soil or sediment into a watercourse, drainage channel or floodplain.
EROSION. Soil movement due to wind or water. EROSION CONTROL STRUCTURE. Any manmade device for preventing or controlling erosion. ... (N) Erosion control. (1) The plan should clearly indicate that installed measures will prevent or control erosion. (2) As a minimum the following items should be considered: (a) Road grades should be designed flat enough to prevent erosion, based on the soils involved; (b) Borrow areas or drainage features should be designed to prevent erosion or sediment deposition; and (c) Culvert inlets and outlets should be properly protected from erosion and sedimentation.
Full Breakdown
156 defines EROSION as soil movement due to wind or water and an EROSION CONTROL STRUCTURE as any manmade device for preventing or controlling erosion. Before the Board of County Commissioners approves a final plat, the subdivider's terrain management plan must include a grading plan showing every cut, fill, road, bridge and erosion control structure, plus an erosion and drainage plan with pre- and post-development storm drainage computations for the 100-year frequency storm. Subsection (K) Grading bars two discharges outright: sediment or other organic or earthen material discharged into a watercourse, water body, drainage channel or floodplain, and material placed where it is susceptible to erosion and deposition into one of those features.
Subsection (N) Erosion control then sets the minimum design checks the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District applies: road grades flat enough to prevent erosion for the soils involved, borrow areas and drainage features designed against erosion or sediment deposition, and culvert inlets and outlets protected from erosion and sedimentation. The construction schedule required under subsection (F) must fix start and finish dates for clearing, grubbing and grading, the duration disturbed ground stays exposed, and the stabilization date, so bare soil is not left open indefinitely. Subsection (L) also requires temporary measures to keep runoff from leaving the site until permanent controls are installed. 999.
Violations & Fines
A subdivider who grades, fills or clears land without a Board-approved terrain management plan, or who discharges sediment into a watercourse, drainage channel or floodplain in violation of § 151.156(K), is subject to enforcement under § 151.999: the County Planning and Zoning Administrator investigates written complaints, and the Board of County Commissioners can impose a civil penalty of up to $500 for utility hookups made before final plat approval, or seek injunctive relief and penalties up to $5,000 per parcel for knowing violations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Valencia County require an erosion control plan for new subdivisions?
What discharges are banned during subdivision construction?
What happens if a developer violates the erosion rules?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Valencia County
Compare Valencia County to another location·View the New Mexico environmental rules overview
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