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RR-796: Acequias of the Southwestern United States

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RR-796: Acequias of the Southwestern United States Acequias of the Southwestern United States: Elements of Resilience in a Coupled Natural and Human System AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION • RESEARCH REPORT 796 Compiled by Adrienne Rosenberg, editor, and Steven Guldan, Alexander G. “Sam” Fernald, and José Rivera, associate editors College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences New Mexico State University aces.nmsu.edu/pubs TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword .........................................................................................................................................................1 Editor’s preface ...............................................................................................................................................3 Part 1—Overview “Key Concepts for a Multidisciplinary Approach to Acequias” (Sylvia Rodríguez) .....................................4 Part 2—Disciplinary Research “The Roots of Community in the Northern Rio Grande: Acequia Mutualism, Cultural Endurance, and Resilience” (José A. Rivera) .................................................................................13 “Acequia Ecosystems” (Kenneth G. Boykin, Elizabeth A. Samson, and Guillermo Alvarez) .....................21 “Surface Water and Groundwater Interactions in Acequia Systems of Northern New Mexico” (Carlos G. Ochoa, Steve J. Guldan, and Sam Fernald) .....................................33 “The Role of Livestock in Supporting Acequia Communities of Northern New Mexico” (Stephanie C. López, Andrés F. Cibils, Lilian Cibils, Ursula R. Smedly, Steve J. Guldan, Sam Fernald, Carlos G. Ochoa, and Kenneth G. Boykin) ............................................................................41 “Perceptions of Drought Preparedness and Adaptation within Acequia Communities” (Brian H. Hurd and Laura Mayagoitia) .........................................................................................................48 Part 3—Interdisciplinary Research and Analysis: Bringing it all together “Connection and Integration: A Systems Approach to Exploring Acequia Community Resiliency” (Ben L. Turner and Vincent C. Tidwell) ......................................................................................................58 “Coupled Natural and Human System Clues to Acequia Resilience” (Sam Fernald, Carlos G. Ochoa, and Steve J. Guldan) .................................................................................72 Appendix .......................................................................................................................................................79 Glossary ........................................................................................................................................................84 Coauthor bios ................................................................................................................................................88 (Cover photo by Sam Fernald, NMSU.) Research Report 796 • Page 2 FOREWORD he pages that follow offer, in a comprehen- and operational knowledge, the organization of the commu- sive and multidisciplinary manner, strong nity of users, and the customary laws and practices govern- and tested evidence about the multiple cul- ing the system’s operation. tural and natural values and environmental, The design of acequia systems required a deep under- social, and economic services rendered by standing of local environmental and geographic conditions T acequia irrigation systems. The study fo- to fulfill the goals of the community with the locally avail- cuses on New Mexican acequias, but the findings are of able resources. Water had to be collected and conducted to worldwide interest. the leveled fields by means of the carefully leveled main All around the Earth, community-based flood irriga- canal and distribution branches. Too much slope would tion systems, owned and managed by self-organized erode the channel network and the agricultural lands, while farmers, continue to provide the basis of subsistence to too little slope would hinder the water circulation and al- local communities in contexts of scarce or uneven yearly location process, with the risk of compromising the fertile rainfall. A significant group of these communities, stretch- lands because of water stagnation. Particular species of ing from Central Asia to the Philippines, share a common trees were planted or allowed to grow along the main chan- background of agricultural and water knowledge that was nels to reinforce them. Irrigated fields were furrowed with forged in the advent of Islam. This knowledge fostered shapes and dimensions related to water availability and the the circulation and merging of the millennial Asian and water requirements of the crops cultivated. A selection of Mediterranean irrigation cultures with precious inputs from vegetal agricultural species had to be made according to the the Indian and Chinese worlds. As a cultural tribute to the quality and quantity of irrigation water available as well as ingenuity of the cosmopolitan irrigation agriculture devel- the insolation, rainfall, and wind regimes. oped in Muslim times, the Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, The different water uses served by the acequia flow were and Sicilian languages refer to irrigation channels with the rationally inserted into the system according to careful names of acequia, séquia, acéquia, and saia, respectively, evaluation and clear-cut principles. Points for human and meaning “ir- animal water consumption were placed first, followed by ,(ةيقاسلا) from the Arabic word al-sāqiyah rigation channel.” In the Americas, the development of uses that did not consume or pollute waters, like grist mill- acequias by the Spanish newcomers benefited from the ing, which needed adequate flows, and then diversion for sophisticated autochthonous irrigation culture developed irrigation (which reduced flows and made operating water by the indigenous peoples and their environmental wis- mills difficult). Water-polluting handicraft industries and dom. This knowledge reached back to Europe, Africa, and community health facilities (such as baths, laundries, and Asia in the form of an astounding repertoire of agricultural sewage) were usually placed at the end of the secondary species previously unknown in the Old World. distribution channels. Acequias are technological systems that are designed, Yearly communal maintenance of the irrigation works maintained, and operated to meet a variety of productive was crucial to avoid decreased performance or even the goals, social services, and health needs, with the practice collapse of acequia systems by silt deposits, excessive of irrigated agriculture being of paramount importance. In vegetation growth, or the crumbling of the earthen chan- preindustrial times, acequia systems relied on the force of nels. Community works were supervised by community- gravity for the collection, conduction, distribution, recol- elected acequia officers who ensured the compliance of lection, and discharge of each system’s waters—with the acequia customary uses, rules, and regulations. Each of only exception of systems fed by water captured from these aspects governed the user’s contribution to common streams or the water table by means of implements oper- maintenance and their access to water while preventing and ated by animal or human force. punishing anti-systemic behavior. Another defining trait of the preindustrial acequia sys- No matter their scale, all acequias are complex, smart tems was the fragility of the channel network in terms of systems whose value for contemporary humanity has beau- its physical fabric. In olden times, acequia ditches were tifully arisen from their foundational weaknesses. Forced mere trenches open in the fields. Strong, long-lasting stone adaptation to local conditions has produced an extraordi- or masonry constructions were limited to critical points in nary variety of acequia waterscapes, from the desert oases the network, such as the acequia water intake or the water to the mountain terraces, that today encourage agrobiodi- dividers. As a result, the intangible dimension of acequia versity. Negotiations among users have resulted in systems systems was stronger than the tangible one. The intangible designed to reduce the potential for water conflict and with- component of acequia systems was composed of the design stand the recurrent crises caused by droughts and floods. Research Report 796 • Page 1 Dependence on communal work and self-organization has Because of their awareness of the multiple values of strengthened local communities and promoted the develop- their treasured acequias and their commitment to the re- ment of rituals that, along with the particularities of their search, dissemination, and preservation of knowledge, es- own acequia landscape, have sustained local identity. pecially in cooperation with committed scholars such as the In addition, water seepage inherent to earthen ditches ones that made this book possible, the New Mexican tra- and flood irrigation recharges aquifers, washes salts and ditional irrigators—the parciantes—are a leading example pollutants from fertile soils, and enhances biodiversity. among traditional irrigators worldwide. Even evapotranspiration results in positive services to the In countries like Spain, the extensive concrete lining community, such as reducing the urban heat island effect of acequias long ago caused the loss of rituals inherent and helping rain to fall on the river headwaters, as research to performing communal
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