ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Albuquerque District and the Pueblo of Isleta met for a kickoff meeting to begin the cultural preservation study of the pueblo’s historic Pottery Mound site at the Isleta Pueblo Cultural Center, April 7, 2025.
During the meeting, project team members from the Albuquerque District met with both governors and the Pueblo’s Department of Natural Resources, Water Resources Division, and technical staff, and began setting the expectations of the study. The meeting also enabled the USACE team to get a better understanding of what data and information is available about the site and what data they need.
USACE’s Tribal Consultation Policy was updated in December of 2023 to include authorization for USACE to do cultural resource protection work under the Tribal Partnership Program (TPP). The Pottery Mound study is the first TPP cultural resource preservation project within the Albuquerque District under the updated guidelines.
The Pottery Mound site is regarded as a significant cultural and historical resource, and many fear it will be lost completely if erosion at the site is not mitigated.
The project is located on a terrace above the Rio Puerco, southwest of Albuquerque, N.M. The Rio Puerco is deeply entrenched with continually sloughing banks. Each time part of the terrace sloughs off into the channel it carries with it artifacts and exposes others to further erosion.
The study will develop and then evaluate alternatives that solve the erosion problem. It will also recommend an alternative for implementation that is both policy compliant and justified for federal investment. Finally, the study will complete environmental compliance documents.
The estimated completion date for the study is April 2027.