Read about acequias as part of our June 2021 book club, and attend a live conversation with Eric Gordon and Eugene Jacquez about the topic on June 8, 2021 at 4pm Mountain Time live on our Facebook page.
Enduring Acequias: Wisdom of the Land, Knowledge of the Water by Juan Estevan Arellano.
For generations the Río Embudo watershed in northern New Mexico has been the home of Juan Estevan Arellano and his ancestors. From this unique perspective Arellano explores the ways people use water in dry places around the world. Touching on the Middle East, Europe, Mexico, and South America before circling back to New Mexico, Arellano makes a case for preserving the acequia irrigation system and calls for a future that respects the ecological limitations of the land.
Acequias are a unique method of water management, originating from Spain and North Africa. Under the acequia system, water is seen not as something that individuals can own but rather as a resource in place, shared by the community and distributed according to each landowner’s need.
To learn more about acequias in the Southwest, read the article Water, Democracy, and Sustainability: The Acequias of Southern Colorado from History Colorado.
You can learn about how acequia irrigation systems are an important part of history, communities, and families in Southern Colorado by watching this video brought to you by the Sangre de Cristo Acequia Association.