Acequia Recommended Reading

Acequia Culture: Water, Land, and Community in the Southwest by José A. Rivera, University of New Mexico Press,1998. This book consists of documents and commentary exploring the history of "traditional" irrigation ditches along the Rio Grand, their method of governance, and contemporary threats to this ancient institution.

Acequia: Water-sharing, Sanctity, And Place by Sylvia Rodríguez, SAR Press, 2006. Every society must have a system for capturing, storing, and distributing water, a system encompassing both technology and a rationale for the division of this finite resource. Today, people around the world face severe and growing water scarcity, and everywhere this vital resource is ceasing to be a right and becoming a commodity

Water in the Hispanic Southwest: A Social and Legal History, 1550-1850 by Michael C. Meyer, University of Arizona Press, 1996. Meyer's study examines one of the Southwest's most precious resources from the perspectives of both social and legal perspectives during the three centuries of Spanish and Mexican rule. SPANISH IRRIGATION IN TAOS VALLEY. by John O. Baxter, New Mexico State Engineer Office, 1990

Las acequias del norte by Phil Lovato, Kit Carson Memorial Foundation, 1974

Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico by Stanley G. Crawford, University of New Mexico Press, 1993. Beautifully written story of a northern New Mexican community and the acequia that knits it together. 242 pp. Land Grants and Lawsuits in Northern New Mexico by Malcolm Ebright, Republished by the Center for Land Grant Studies, Guadalupita, NM 2008. Original published by UNM Press, 1994. Contains eight case studies of specific land grants, together with background material on the making of Spanish and Mexican land grants and their adjudication by the U.S. Malcolm Ebright draws on his wide experience as a historian and attorney to examine the history of New Mexico's land grants from their antecedents in Spain and Mexico down to present-day land and water lawsuits. Ebright narrates specific cases involving fraud, forgery, and injustice, as well as courageous acts by land grant communities.

Chicano Culture, Ecology, Politics: Subversive Kin (Society, Environment, and Place) by Devon G. Peña, University of Arizona Press, 1999 Just as European society requires that we read the books that promote and maintain the values of that society, so must we open ourselves to the values of Rio Arriban land-based communities which connect cultural and political systems into a world that embraces diversity. This book, a collection of essays by Devon Peña, Ruben O. Martinez, Reyes Garcia, Laura Pulido, Gwyn Kirk, Malia Davis, and Joseph C. Gallegos, is a great place to start.

Water and Poverty in the Southwest: Conflict, Opportunity, and Challenge by F. Lee Brown and Helen M. Ingram, University of Arizona Press, 1987. River of Traps: A Village Life by William deBuys and Alex Harris, University of New Mexico Press, 1996. A Hispanic farmer teaches two young Anglos about life in rural New Mexico

Juan the Bear and the Water of Life: La Acequia de Juan del Oso (Paso Por Aqui Series on the Nuevomexicano Literary Heritage) (English and Spanish Edition) by Enrique R. Lamadrid, Juan Estevan Arellano and Amy Córdova, University of New Mexico Press, 2008 The legend of the stouthearted man who moved mountains and rivers to create the most famous acequia in northern New Mexico is retold in both English and Spanish for a new generation of young readers.

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All books are available at the Taos Public Library except Chicano Culture, Ecology, Politics: Subversive Kin (Society, Environment, and Place) by Devon G. Peña.