Water for the People features twenty-five essays by world-renowned acequia scholars and community members that highlight acequia culture, use, and history in New Mexico, northern Mexico, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Spain, the Middle East, Nepal, and the Philippines, situating New Mexico's acequia heritage and its inherent sustainable design within a global framework. The lush landscapes of the upper Río Grande watershed created by acequias dating from as far back as the late sixteenth century continue to irrigate their communities today despite threats of prolonged drought, urbanization, private water markets, extreme water scarcity, and climate change. Water for the People celebrates acequia practices and traditions worldwide and shows how these ancient irrigation systems continue to provide arid regions with a model for water governance, sustainable food systems, and community traditions that reaffirm a deep cultural and spiritual relationship with the land year after year.
Preface
Introduction
José A. Rivera and Enrique R. Lamadrid
Bendición del agua
Olivia Ramona Romo
I. Acequias of Nuevo México
Chapter 1. Río Grande Acequias: Historic Working Landscapes
Luis Pablo Martínez Sanmartín, Thomas F. Glick, and José A. Rivera
Chapter 2. A Bird's-Eye View of Northern New Mexico's Acequias
Alejandro López
Chapter 3. Acequia Waters: Community Resource or Commodity?
Paula García and Miguel Santistevan
Chapter 4. Framing the Spring Ritual of la Limpia
Donatella Davanzo
Chapter 5. The Waterfall Acequias of the Mora Valley
Enrique R. Lamadrid and Juan Estevan Arellano
Chapter 6. Transbasin Diversion in the Forest Wilderness: Oral History Testimony Protects the Acequia Bordo
José A. Rivera
Chapter 7. Valdez: Acequia, Placita, Merced
Sylvia Rodríguez
Chapter 8. La Bajada Village's Acequia Landscapes
Arnold Valdez
Chapter 9. Cultivating a Sensible Food System
Miguel Santistevan
Chapter 10. Acequias as a Sustainable Model for Hydro-Ecology
Quita Ortiz
Chapter 11. Conservation in the Conservancy District: Keeping the Valley Green with Acequias and Adaptation
Yasmeen Najmi
II. España y México: Patrimonios Ancestrales
Chapter 12. Valencia and New Mexico's Hermanamiento Ceremony: A Personal Perspective
Don Bustos
Chapter 13. Safeguarding the Global Cultural Heritage of Community Acequias
Luis Pablo Martínez Sanmartín
Chapter 14. Heritage Acequias of Spain: The Millennial Huerta of Murcia and the Río Segura Valley
Armando J. Lamadrid
Chapter 15. El Palmeral de Elche: Acequia Management and Oasis Survival in the Twenty-First Century
Carlos Ortiz Mayordomo and Lina Gracia i Vicente
Chapter 16. Bounty of the Columbian Exchange
Enrique R. Lamadrid and Armando J. Lamadrid
Chapter 17. Tlaxcala and Aranjuez: Keystone Gardens of the Columbian Exchange
Enrique R. Lamadrid and Armando J. Lamadrid
Chapter 18. Valle de Allende and Aldama: Roots of Acequia Culture in Northern México
Enrique R. Lamadrid
III. Nuevo México y el Mundo
Chapter 19. Land and Water in the Middle East: The Yemen Connection
Juan Estevan Arellano and Enrique R. Lamadrid
Chapter 20. Traditional Communal Irrigation: Historical Lineage from Persia to New Mexico
R. Jack Meyers
Chapter 21. Climate Calamity and High-Mountain Glacier Irrigation in Nepal and Perú
Armando J. Lamadrid
Chapter 22. The Zanjeras: Community Irrigation in the Philippines
José A. Rivera
Chapter 23. Acequias of Chile: A Permanent Stronghold in Times of Change
José Luis Arumí and Ovidio Alejandro Melo
Chapter 24. Looking to the Past for Solutions for the Future: A Comparative Study of the Acequias of Two High-Desert Cities
Andrew Bernard
Epilogue: In Defense of Water, Agriculture, and People
Enrique R. Lamadrid and José A. Rivera
Contributors
Index
