| Welcome to the online newsletter of the New Mexico Acequia Association, Las Noticias de las Acequias! Our communal irrigation systems are essential to our way of life. Acequias are under threat from development pressures, commodification of water, and challenges facing small scale farmers.
Join us in the struggle to sustain our way of life by protecting water as a community resource and strengthing our farming and ranching traditions. If you are on our mailing list, bienvenidos!!! If you would like to receive this online newsletter, please click below: "Join Our Mailing List." Thank you for your support! Que Vivan las Acequias!!
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| Dia de San Antonio - Celebracion de las Acequias, June 13th in Embudo |
Join us for a celebration of Dia de San Antonio. It will be two days filled with prayer, education, and celebration. Friday will begin with a procession to honor San Antonio. The NMAA will provide two workshops: Acequia Water Banking and Acequia Easements and the evening will include a presentation honoring local community members for their contributions to the acequias.
Friday
7:00am Procession
10:00am Workshop Water Banking
12:00pm Lunch
1:30pm Workshop Easements
5:00pm Art Exhibition
6:00pm Food and Music!!
7:00pm Ceremony Honoring Community Members
Saturday
9am - 12noon Mapping Presentations
For more information, call 505-995-9644 or email estevan_2002@yahoo.com. Events will take place at the Embudo Community Center and Embudo Mission.
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| Mayordomo: Keeper of the Water and Traditions
by Estevan Arellano, Concilio Member,
for the Taos News, June 2008 |
A couple of years back at the unveiling of a sculpture in Taos I was talking with State Historian Dr. Estevan Rael-Galvez and he made a comment that has stuck in my mind ever since. He said, "There should be a sculpture of a mayordomo instead of only famous people, because it was people like them who have really made New Mexico what it is today." We continued our conversation that most of the people honored, if from the past, were the conquistadores and if from today, the politicians.
Everywhere buildings are named after a politician, but never do we see the elusive image of someone who has really made northern New Mexico what it is today, and that is a mayordomo, or a sembrador - a farmer - or a rancher.
There is song of "la Llorona loca," walking the banks of the acequia at night, but what about the mayordomo?
To be a mayordomo, or the one who manages the water in an ancient acequia, is an honor and today very hard work. I say "ancient" acequia because of an old document about an Embudo land transaction found at the state archives by Dr. Danna Levin from the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City, from 1788 which mentions "la acequia antigua" that had been in use since the beginning of the settlement, presumably in 1725 when the Embudo land grant was made.
Which brings me back to honoring our mayordomos with a sculpture, not in a manicured sculptured garden, a state museum or the Capitol Rotunda but rather along the banks of the acequias in his natural habitat. That is, where the acequias are visible from the road.
When I think of a mayordomo, two people come to mind, both died in 1992. Pablo Romero, mayordomo of the Acequia de la Plaza in Dixon was a walking encyclopedia when it came acequias and farming: both were more than friends, they were my mentors. The other was Cleofes Vigil from San Cristobal; known to most people as a folklorist.
But since Pablo was my neighbor I spent many hours under an old apple tree talking about acequias, fruit trees, chile, etc. He opened my eyes to how complex the acequia landscape used to be and how he used grapes vines as "cortinas," curtains, to create edible, private spaces. And since his land was traversed by an arroyo, by terracing, his father had taught him to turn what could have been a negative into a positive space where they grew peaches. Terraces add a sculptural feeling to the landscape.
On June 13th, the community of Embudo will be honoring two persons, one a mayordomo and the other a sembrador, at the first annual "Celebrando las acequias" during the annual Día de San Antonio events to be held at the Embudo Community Center and the Mission Embudo in Dixon, sponsored by the Embudo Valley Library, the New Mexico Acequia Association and the Embudo Valley Acequia Association.
Dr. Rael-Galvez will be present to make the presentations and hopefully plant the symbolic seed to realize his dream. If Spain has their national symbol of a bull everywhere, why can't we in New Mexico have the mayordomo, whom is also a sembrador, walking the "bordo," or bank with his shovel resting on his shoulder?
The mayordomo will be Aaron Griego, a retired educator and coach, who has been mayordomo of the Acequia de la Plaza for 50 years and orchardist Fred Martinez, who has a 3,500-tree orchard, irrigated by the Leonardo Martinez Acequia.
Their own community will finally recognize the most honorable of all occupations - to be a mayordomo and sembrador. Join us for this historic occasion starting at 5:00 for the opening of an art exhibit.
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| Equal Voice Town Hall Draws 200 People by Teresa Trujillo, Special Projects |
(Photo: On May 6 at El Museo Cultural, thirty two policymakers listened to community members discussing issues facing working families.)
More than two hundred people from northern New Mexico attended a Town Hall at the Museo Cultural de Santa Fe on May 6th, 2008 to express their experiences, issues, and recommendations to thirty-two political candidates and elected officials in attendance. NMAA, in partnership with Somos Un Pueblo Unido, the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe Living Wage Network, Siete del Norte, Tewa Women United, Health Action New Mexico, and the New Mexico Community Foundation coordinated the event to provide a venue where working families and individuals could share a meal and discuss their most pressing issues and challenges in surviving in today's world on a day to day basis.
By way of background, the "Equal Voice for America's Families Campaign", sponsored by the Marguerite Casey Foundation, is bringing together low-wage working families from across the country to develop an agenda that voices issues that concern families. The Campaign, through town hall meetings, is intended to draw attention to the social and economic barriers low-wage working families face. The Campaign will culminate with the presentation of the national family agenda at a multi-city convention of families in Los Angeles, CA, Chicago, IL and Birmingham, AL on September 6, 2008.
In Santa Fe, the Town Hall was attended by farmers, ranchers and other land based people; immigrants; Native Americans; high school and college students; and local Nuevo Mejicanos whose families have lived in the area for hundreds of years. Three questions were posed: 1) How are our lives different from the lives of our parents and grandparents and how will life be different for our children if things continue the way they are today? 2) Where do you see yourself in ten years and why? and 3) What issues affect families in northern New Mexico and what would you do if you were a policymaker to address them?
The responses to these questions were expressed using an open microphone format and were very moving and descriptive of the current economic and social environment. Some of these touched on the high cost of living; the lack of economic opportunity and social support systems; the need for healthy food and expanded methods and opportunities for traditional farming; drop out rates and the high cost of a college education; outrageous health care expenses and lack of health insurance and support services; and the need for a treaty division at the State government level to address land grant and Indian treaty breaches. There were strong concerns about families breaking down, about the loss of hope regarding young people growing up in the area and not believing in a sound future or homeownership. Many immigrant issues were expressed as were issues surrounding water use, overpopulation, and the impact of the national Labs on the environment and groundwater.
Some identified the cuts in education and the failure of 'No Child Left Behind' as major concerns. Also stressed were financial concerns regarding rising taxes on property and tax breaks for the wealthy that live in New Mexico part-time as opposed to those that have lived in the area for many generations. Energy issues, globalization, cultural erosion of tradition, and a young generation in fear of the future were also key points raised.
Policy makers and current elected officials were challenged to also listen during off -election years, to expand education to teach on sustainability and to bring back the arts and vocational training. Policy makers were asked to look at water issues, reform immigration policy, and to enact laws and policies to protect native seeds like chile and protect corn which has been exploited in ways too numerous to mention. Policy makers were reminded of the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe/Hidalgo and reminded of the need for funding to clean up and prevent environmental pollution. Trampas Lake and the Rio Grande were examples of polluted waters in need of attention.
Through stories and anecdotes, people described how land retired from agricultural will be needed for future survival and how traditional agriculture is being lost at an exponential pace. Politicians were urged to stop groundwater mining and to limit the transfer of water away from agriculture and acequias in favor of unsustainable development.
In summary, the Town Hall was a people's forum where the broad issues and concerns were brought forth. It was enlightening as well as distressing to hear the voices of our neighbors and friends. One of the very positive outcomes of the event was the camaraderie and friendships developed among the Town Hall organizing committee in getting together behind a common purpose and goal. Mutual support and respect was strengthened between organizations serving different northern New Mexico populations but serving them with the same values of social and community justice.
In continuation of this effort, the NMAA will be organizing a group to represent at the Los Angeles Convention in September. For more information, contact Marcela Cruz at 995-9644.
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| Acequias and Land Grants Gather for Land and Water Institute
by Paula Garcia |
(Photo: Regis Pecos with Margarita Garcia, Toribio Garcia, Angel Martinez, and Andrew Mascarenas)
On May 19th and 20th, over 100 acequia parciantes, herederos, supporters, students, and university professors participated in the 3rd Annual Land and Water Institute and New Mexico Highlands University. The purpose of the institute was to inspire hope for the future and create strategies for strengthening local agricultural traditions, integrating culture into youth education, and protecting land and water rights. The outcome of the institute was strengthened relationships and networks between participants and articulated themes for policy development. Regis Pecos, Chief of Staff for Speaker of the House Ben Lujan, gave a keynote presentation entitled, "Fulfilling our Sacred Trust for Future Generations: Our Land, Our Home, and Our Identity." Sembrando Semillas youth presented their videos about native food traditions and several community leaders shared their stories about land and water rights struggles and making their livelihood from the land. Some general themes and policy ideas that surfaced were as follows:
- Reconstructing land and water rights through collective forms of ownership, initiating a land rights retention project that assists families to keep their land through estate planning, creating a fund to acquire lands (or easements that protect farmland)
- Building upon current work on strengthening acequias as local institutions of government, expand to provide more in-depth assistance to acequias and cultivate self-sufficiency.
- Coordinating existing youth programs, creating new programs that deal with natural resource and agriculture both in elementary/high school and universities, incorporating community-based experiential knowledge.
- Asserting that rural agricultural revitalization should be one of the top priorities for economic development.
- Creating a reinvestment strategy for agriculture including the basic irrigation works of acequias, food processing infrastructure (slaughtering, etc.), local/regional food distribution, and marketplaces.
- Building upon recent work to create institutional markets for local growers such as schools.
- Redefining education for the purposes of cultural retention and community self-determination, engage community in cultural educational curriculum.
- Creating programs that will improve the success of small-scale farming that includes technical assistance on farm planning, agronomy, and financial planning/assistance. Model based on Maine/Vermont called Farms for the Future
- Working with universities to create appropriate protocols for research that is done with communities.
- Creating protections for cultural practices and the cultural landscape, a cultural bill of rights. Ensure that traditional communities are at the center of discussions and strategies relating to land/water and agricultural revitalization.
- Reconstituting land grant commons, seeking restitution in the form of trust funds, etc.
- Protecting native seeds from genetic contamination and increase cultivation of native crops in rural and urban communities.
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| Dia de San Ysidro y Santa Maria de la Cabeza - South Valley Celebration
by Janice Varela, Community Organizer, Acequia Governance Program |
(Photo: Ron and Gina Olivas, new mayordomos, lead a procession with danzantes in the South Valley to celebrate Dia de San Isidro, patron saint of farmers and laborers.)
Saturday, May 17, 2008 marked the annual Dia de San Ysidro y Santa Maria de la Cabeza celebration in the South Valley of Albuquerque. Celebrants gathered around the Carousol de San Ysidro Labrador on the corner of Isleta and Arenal, where the festivities began with opening prayers led by Deacons Leroy Sanchez and Juan Ortiz.
Outgoing mayordomos James and Yvonne Maestas passed their duties on to new mayordomos, Ron and Gina Olivas who dutifully accepted the responsibility and honor and led the procession to the nearby La Plazita Gardens (Historic Sanchez Farm). Local musicians, Joe and Jose Maldonado, and Danzantes - Circulo Solar Ollin Xopilla joined the group at the carousol adding a colorful element to the procession.
Blessings of Acequia waters, flowers, seeds, tools, fields and even laborers were bestowed at La Plazita Gardens. The Danzantes continued with Danza and prayers while musicos entertained fiesta goers as they enjoyed delicious fresh greens and frito pies in La Plazita Gardens, which now encompass over 5 acres of community gardens planted with trees and vegetables.
Sponsors of the annual event were: Amigos Bravos, Don Gabino Acequia Assoc., South Valley Partners for Environmental Justice, Partnership for Earth Spirituality, Erda Garden and Learning Center, American Friends Service Committee, La Plazita Institute, La Plazita Café, S. Valley Regional Acequia Association and the New Mexico Acequia Association.
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| Report on Recent Acequia Workshops
by Kenny Salazar, Program Manager, Acequia Governance Program |
The New Mexico Acequia Association (NMAA), through its Acequia Governance Education Program, has been reaching out to acequia communities throughout the State. NMAA has sponsored several Acequia Governance workshops recently and the attendance was great!
On February 23, 2008, the NMAA Acequia Governance Workshop at the Rio Arriba County Rural Events Center (co-sponsored by the El Rito Acequia Association) was a huge success. Ray Acosta (ISC Acequia Program Manager), Thomas Gonzales (NRCS) and Tony Valdez (RA County Extension Office) were present as attendance peaked at 72 acequieros. Emphasis was placed on day-to-day acequia operations, governance issues (easements, bylaws) and funding issues.
The NMAA workshop held at the NM State Records and Archives Center in Santa Fe on March 6, 2008, was entirely dedicated to acequia easements. Attendance was not great (26 acequiero) probably due to the snow storm. However, the participants were very engaged as evidenced by the outpouring of acequia easement stories.
The March 27th, 2008, NMAA workshop held at the same venue, was dedicated to water banking. Unlike the previous "select topic" workshop, this one was attended by over 70 acequieros. The topic was water banking and again the participants were very engaged.
On March 8, 2008, the NMAA Acequia Governance Workshop at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Arroyo Seco (co-sponsored by the Pojoaque and Santa Cruz Irrigation Districts) was also a huge success. Over 70 acequieros attended, as did Speaker of the House, Representative Ben Lujan, and Senator Carlos Cisneros, both cosponsors of legislation that has provided funding for NMAA's Acequia Governance Education programs. Acequia water rights, water right transfers, water banking, easements, and enforcement issues were topics covered at this acequia workshop.
The NMAA asks all acequia workshop participants to actively go into their communities and use the acequia governance knowledge they gained from our workshops to defend and protect our precious acequia community water. Do not hesitate to contact us (505-995-9644) if you need information on upcoming workshops. |
Harmony and Sustainability: An Essay on Green Futures
by Paula Garcia for the Santa Fe New Mexican, April 2008 |
For many who were raised in Northern New Mexico, the springtime was shaped by the urgency of the growing season. Acequias had to be cleaned, soil had to be tilled, and seeds had to be planted by certain saint's days. These ancient cultural practices still permeate the communities of the region during the months of April and May, making it a natural time to reflect on our relationship with our tierra madre. Since the 1970s, Spring has also been a time to celebrate Earth Day, an expression of the mainstream environmental movement.
I believe there are substantive differences in the way that traditional communities and environmental groups relate to the landscape. For many with generational connections here, a relationship to the Earth is expressed as a profound connection to place. The names of ancestors, their lives, and features of the land are articulated through oral histories. The powerful presence of beautiful mountains, the streams they nurture, and the valleys we inhabit and cultivate inspire connection to place for newcomers as well. However, the generational element in traditional communities is distinct.
Another difference is a feeling of dispossession and displacement that stems from historical experience. Farming and ranching livelihoods were seriously disrupted with fragmentation of the landscape following US conquest. Rural villages have endured generations of outmigration as people have sought better jobs outside their historic communities. This historical context is crucial to understanding, for example, why well- intentioned efforts to protect "wilderness" rub against the historic rights and uses of the traditional land-based people of the region or why gentrification of historic communities sometimes fosters resentment.
Any discussion about the "environment" in Northern New Mexico has to begin with reaching a common understanding of our history and the way in which traditional communities relate to the land and water. This Earth Day, let's embrace that discussion. If we could truly reach common ground on the historical understanding, there is great potential for how we might strategize for the future.
Assuming that we could meet such a threshold, I have some thoughts about where we might start. I believe that some of our most pressing concerns are that Northern New Mexico, along with the rest of the state, suffers from one of the highest rates of food insecurity and highest disparities between the rich and the poor in the nation. Despite the cultural and ecological richness of the region, these numbers raise a red flag as indicators of social and economic justice and ecological sustainability.
First, we should restore our ability to grow and process more of our food locally, a concept often referred to as food sovereignty. Although we import most of the food we eat, historically we once were more self-sufficient and we have the potential to do so again. For example, in a recent study by the New Mexico Acequia Association with the support of the Kellogg Foundation, we estimated that, in a five county area of Northern New Mexico, local ranchers are raising enough livestock to feed their respective communities but lack the infrastructure to process and distribute the food to our tables. In making a shift toward processing local beef, we could support the income of thousands of ranchers, improve the quality of the food we eat, and reduce the number of miles our food travels. We could do the same for all of our crops with an emphasis on native foods that are spiritually and culturally significant to our communities.
To achieve this amazing potential, we need to take immediate steps toward protecting the historic grazing rights, water rights, native seeds, and farmland that are the basis for our agricultural productive capacity. It would also require serious investment in our farms and ranches as well as the infrastructure needed to process our food. Widespread support will be needed to make these structural changes to our local food systems. We need to reach economies of scale that will achieve the dual objectives of supporting our farmers and ranchers while also making the food produced affordable for all of our families.
In addition to rebuilding our local food systems, New Mexico could lead the way toward a new energy economy. The public funding that is allocated to the national laboratories would be better invested transitioning to renewable energy such as wind, solar, and biomass and developing alternatives to fossil fuels, the rising costs of which will impose disproportionate hardship on poor families. Under certain conditions, these new technologies could create many new "green collar" jobs and keep more of our energy dollar in the region. Such a model for community development could help address economic inequities such as the wide disparity between the median incomes of Los Alamos and Rio Arriba Counties and eliminate the possibility of radioactive contamination which already has precedent in Northern New Mexico.
I envision a future for Northern New Mexico where we create just livelihoods for workers, farmers, and ranchers which also provide for the basic needs of families for healthy food and clean, affordable energy. In working toward that future, we would contribute to a global movement to reduce our dependence on transnational corporations for our food and energy. As a person dedicated to working the land and to grassroots organizing, I remain hopeful about our potential.
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| Sembrando Semillas - Planting Papas
by Miguel Santistevan, Youth Mentor |
(Photo: Chamisal Sembrando Semillas team planting potatoes.)
On May 10, 2008 members of the Chamisal Sembrando Semillas team planted many rows of potatoes. The mentors for this planting included Rudy Sanchez, Crestino Gonzales, and Edward Gonzales who showed Toribio Garcia, Eric Casados, and Augustine & Ignacio Gonzales how to plant the field. The 2 acre field was plowed by Toribio's grandfather, Lorenzo Martinez of Chimayo. The youth learned how to make the rows, plant the potatoes, and cover them with a small tractor. Toribio is excited about this growing season and getting his land under cultivation with alberjon, maiz blanco for chicos, habas, y papas. These crops will be to help sustain the family, to trade with the other Sembrando Semillas sites in our first Cambalache, and maybe even to sell at Farmers' Market.
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| Acequia Communities Facing Oil and Gas Drilling by Paula Garcia |
Three northern New Mexico counties have enacted moratoria on permits for oil and gas drilling to allow time to develop appropriate county land use regulations. Santa Fe County, Rio Arriba County, and most recently Mora County have taken steps to develop specific ordinances to regulate land uses related to oil and gas drilling.
La Asociacion de las Acequias Nortenas de Rio Arriba called upon the Rio Arriba County Commission to enact a moratorium. According to President, Medardo Sanchez, oil and gas drilling could have negative impacts on water quality in the watershed that feeds the acequias in northern Rio Arriba County. Likewise, La Asociacion de las Acequias del Valle de Mora supported a moratorium in Mora County. In a recent statement, the group representing Mora's acequias requested that the county strengthen its existing land use code or Development Guidance System and enact an ordinance specific to regulation of oil and gas drilling.
Several organizations are mobilizing to protect New Mexico's land and water resources and cultural landscape:
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| Briefs Filed with Court of Appeals in Acequia Water Transfer Case
by Paula Garcia |
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Last year, Acequia de Gavilan and Acequia de Hernandez both made decisions to deny applications by developer Richard Cook to transfer water rights out of the respective acequias. The acequias made the decisions in accordance with the 2003 acequia water transfer law which recognizes the authority of acequias, as political subdivisions of the state, to regulate water transfers. Cook appealed to District Court, where Judge Sanchez agreed with Cook's attorneys that Cook was entitled to a de novo hearing. Acequias took the case to the Court of Appeals where briefs were recently filed by both sides. At issue is an interesting provision in state law that provides that acequia decisions can be appealed to District Court only on the basis of whether the decision was arbitrary and capricious, fraudulent, or otherwise in conflict with state law. This type of appeal is more deferential to an acequia decision than having to go through a de novo hearing. Cook's attorneys argued that they are entitled to a de novo hearing at District Court, a much less deferential standard of appeal. The acequia attorneys argued that the State of New Mexico has long carved out a special place in state law for acequias and creating by state law a different standard of appeal is entirely appropriate and consistent with the New Mexico constitution. The acequias filed their brief recently with the Court of Appeals. Also, the New Mexico Acequia Commission, the Governor-appointed body that advises the legislature and Governor Richardson on policy, also submitted an amicus brief.
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URGENT!!
USDA Agricultural Census |
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FINAL *EXTENDED* DEADLINE June 19th
This may be your last chance to submit your agricultural census forms if you have not done so already.
It is very important that we as farmers and ranchers are counted. Hispano and Native American Farmers are generally undercounted. As a result, New Mexico may not be getting its fair share of federal funds from the Farm Bill.
Please take a moment and call this number:
1-888-4AG-STAT
This is the number for USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. They will help you fill it out. |
| ANNOUNCING
ACEQUIA
WORKSHOPS!!! |
Embudo Acequia Workshops
Friday, June 13, 2008
10am - 12pm
Acequia Water Banking
1:30pm - 4pm
Acequia Easements
Embudo Community Center and Embudo Mission, Dixon
Questa Acequia Workshop
Saturday, June 14, 2008
9am - 12pm
VFW Hall in Questa
Topics: Water Transfers, Water Banking, and Acequia Easements.
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Que Vivan las Acequias Radio Show
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This is a monthly half-hour radio show that explores the richness the
acequia culture and the challenges facing acequias. The show also
chronicles the work of the New Mexico Acequia Association and the
activities of the Sembrando Semillas team. |
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| Thank You!! |
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The New Mexico Acequia Association gratefully acknowledges the support of the many acequia parciantes and supporters who are members and who have made donations.
We also wish to thank our foundation supporters including (in alphabetical order) the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the Christensen Fund, the Jesse Smith Noyes Foundation, the Just Woke Up Fund, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the New Mexico Community Foundation, the Panta Rhea Foundation, the Santa Fe Community Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
The NMAA is a not-for-profit, tax exempt organization organized as a 501c3 under the rules of the Internal Revenue Service. Donations to the NMAA are tax deductible.
The NMAA also provides services for community education through contracts with the State of New Mexico, Department of Finance and Administration - Local Government Division and the New Mexico Department of Agriculture.
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