Water for the people : the acequia heritage of New Mexico in a global context / edited by Enrique R. Lamadrid and José A. Rivera.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Lamadrid, Enrique R., editor.

Rivera, José A., 1944- editor.

Series:

New century gardens and landscapes of the American Southwest.

New century gardens and landscapes of the American Southwest

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Irrigation canals and flumes--New Mexico.

Irrigation canals and flumes.

Irrigation farming--New Mexico.

Irrigation farming.

Sustainable agriculture--New Mexico.

Sustainable agriculture.

New Mexico--Social life and customs.

New Mexico.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxxv, 250 pages) : color illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Albuquerque : University of New Mexico Press, 2023.

Summary:

"Water for the People: The Acequia Heritage of New Mexico in a Global Context is a new anthology of essays by world-renowned acequia scholars and community members that situates New Mexico's acequia heritage and its inherent sustainable design within a global framework. Initially inspired by two special issues of the Green Fire Times (GFT) that centered on New Mexico's rich acequia traditions, Water for the People features twenty-five essays (including the Epilogue) highlighting acequia culture, use, and history in New Mexico and northern Mexico complemented by accompanying articles that focus on acequias in Chile and Peru, Spain, the Middle East, Nepal, and the Philippines. A hybrid Iberian model of irrigation melded with irrigated agricultural practices already existing in the Americas in places like Peru, Mesoamerica, and the high-altitude deserts of northern New Spain inhabited by Puebloan peoples that is now the American Southwest. In the case of the upper Rio Grande, the lush landscapes created by acequias in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries and later continue to feed their communities today despite threats of economic modernity, urbanization, private water markets, and conditions of extreme water scarcity due to cycles of prolonged drought and the emerging impacts of climate change. Water for the People demonstrates through a series of connected essays how the acequia in New Mexico is part of an agricultural web of creative irrigation works that stretches from Valencia, Spain, to the Middle East, Mexico, the Philippines, Argentina, and elsewhere. This volume celebrates acequia practices and traditions worldwide and shows how these ancient irrigation systems continue to provide arid regions a model for water governance, sustainable food systems, and in the case of New Mexico, community traditions that year after year reaffirms a deep cultural and spiritual relationship with the land. Ditch-irrigation systems have stood as the backbone of New Mexican landscape and garden construction for over four centuries. Acequias offer a proven and elegant answer to these everlasting questions: How do you provide consistent water so that a garden, field, or pasture will thrive? And how do you do so in a place that is known for its droughts, heat, thin soils, remarkably small streams and springs, and other scarce agricultural resources? Existing literature on acequias include technical and historical studies, ethnographies, and even memoir, but none has the global scope of this anthology"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction. Poema. Bendición del agua / Olivia Romo

Acequias de Nuevo México. Rio Grande acequias / Thomas F. Glick, Luis Pablo Martínez Sanmartín and José A. Rivera

A bird's-eye view of Northern New Mexico's acequias / Alejandro López

Acequias waters / Paula García & Miguel Santistevan

Framing the spring ritual of la limpia / Donatella Davanzo

The waterfall acequias of the Mora Valley / Enrique R. Lamadrid

Trans-basin diversion in the forest wilderness / José A. Rivera

Valdez / Sylvia Rodríguez

La bajada village acequia landscapes / Arnold Valdez

Cultivating a sensible food system / Miguel Santisteva

Acequias as a sustainable model for hydro-ecology / Quita Ortiz

Conservation in the conservancy district / Yasmeen Najmi

España y México: patrimonios ancestrales. Valencia and New Mexico's Hermanamiento Ceremony / Don Bustos

Safeguarding the global cultural heritage of community acequias / Luis Pablo Martínez Sanmartín

Heritage acequias of Spain / Armando J. Lamadrid

El Palmeral de Elche / Carlos Ortiz Mayordomo and Lina Gracia

Bounty of the Columbian exchange / Enrique R. and Armando J. Lamadrid

Tlaxcala and Aranjuez / Enrique R. and Armando J. Lamadri

Valle de Allende and Aldama / Enrique R. Lamadrid

Nuevo México y El Mundo. Land and water in the Middle East / Estevan Arellano and Enrique R. Lamadrid

Traditional communal irrigation / R. Jack Meyers

Climate calamity and high-mountain glacier irrigation in Nepal and Perú / Armando J. Lamadrid

The Zanjeras / José A. Rivera

Las acequias de Chile / José Luis Arumí and Ovidio Melo

Looking to the past for solution for the future / Andrew Bernard

Epilogue: el agua se defiende. In defense of water, agriculture, and people / Enrique R. Lamadrid and José A. Rivera.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Other Format:

Print version: Lamadrid, Enrique R. Water for the People

ISBN:

9780826364647

0826364640

OCLC:

1345278591