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The Ditch Irrigation System in New Mexico
Acequias
By Laird Smith
Las Vegas Ditches and Links
previous articles

Far back in the history of Albuquerque, and all the way up and down the Rio Grande River valley in New Mexico, a series of irrigation ditches were constructed which still serve the small farming needs of today. The ditches are a cooperative system in localities with user groups making rules about usage (when the gates are opened) and the users all participate in debris cleanup of the ditches at the beginning of spring every year.
The various ditch systems have been hand dug, following the terrain, around obstacles (rocks, trees) to provide water to property owners downstream. Said property owners are part of an association, a quasi-government or committe that decides how the ditches should be used, when the gates are opened and so forth - a "Mayordomo" is elected to preside over ditch activities and meetings. In some very rural areas such an association is the main contact and guidance for the small community it serves.
Some ditches are now concrete lined - like this one in San Cristobal NM Back when the Spanish were colonizing New Mexico ditches were developed even before buildings for a community were built to insure the ability to grow food there. They dug a main ditch first to divert water from a stream or river. Then other, lateral, ditches were dug from the main ditch. And downstream from the ditch system a channel was dug to divert left over water back into the natural waterway - this was called a desegura. Obviously the ditch system relies heavily on rain and snow fall to be really useful. They are not used now for human water consumption as that is mostly provided by wells in rural areas.
A large part of the estimated 1500 contemporary ditch associations in New Mexico are located in the North Central, mountainous, part of the state in the counties of Santa Fe, Mora, Rio Arriba, Taos, and San Miguel. The small scattered villages in these counties still use the ditch system to water fields, gardens, and vegetation.
There has been a 40 year dispute regarding the actual ownership of the water in New Mexico. There is a proposal being put forth in the summer of 2004 that may settle this dispute. Current Governor Bill Richardson, asserted early in his administration that one of his major goals was the resolution of this long standing water ownership dispute to the benefit of all the citizens of New Mexico.

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