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39 001136 J\CE(2tnU\S A TRADITIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SURVIVES Commullity farmlallds ill Hernalldez, New Mexico, showillg a typical strip pattern dividillg lallds equally amollg community members. A local acequia delivers water to these fields. PHaro BY PAUL LOGSDON, ORIGINS When Spanish settlers moved north in the seventeenth century from Mexico into what is now New Mexico and Southern Colorado, they brought with them a proven system of irrigation through ditches, or acequias. These first set- tlers recognized native irrigation systems already in place in the Pueblo communities, well estab- lished since at least 1000 AD along the banks of the Rio Grande. The two systems existed side by side, and in some cases merged, over the years, Today, these acequias remain the primary system of irri- gation in rural New Mexico, in some cases having become irriga- tion districts. The acequia system is based on the principle that irrigators are respon- sible for the management of their own water delivery and use, and that consequently each irrigator has the right to a share of the water. Acequia members tradition- ally work together to clean and repair the ditch system in the spring before irrigation season begins. The responsibilities and corresponding privileges connected with the acequia have made the system a focal point for the social, economic and political life of the community. In some communities the acequia system is healthy and strong; in others the system may be deteriorating, both physically and culturally, losing its central role in the social and economic well being of the community. STRUCTURE AND AUTHORITY There are hundreds of acequias in the Rio Grande basin, providing water to at least 65,020 acres, The largest acequia irrigates almost 2,000 acres; the smallest, a remnant in the heart of Santa Fe, serves 1.37 acres, The concentration of the acequias is in the San Luis Valley of Colorado and in the northern part of New Mexico, with particular