Doug Kerr
Well-known member
A unique facility, found mostly in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, is the acequia irrigation system.
In this system, water (typically from a mountain stream) is conducted by gravity across an entire area through a network of open ditches. At each farm served by the system, the water is drawn (on an established schedule) through openings in the side wall of the ditch.
The system was originally introduced by the Spanish colonists of the area, although it is really of South American origin.
Just as fascinating as the technical aspects of the system is the regimen of governance that emerged. Of course the orderly use of this resource was vital to the viability of the farms. As a result, a structure of strong governance was established that became a prototype for democratic governance of cities by a city council.
In fact, in many cases where a town or county government had not yet been formed in a rural area, the residents called upon the ditch governing body to form and operate a police department, fire brigade, and so forth.
These governing bodies are today usually called ditch associations.
In New Mexico, the laws governing water use rights accord special recognition to ditch associations, and the underlying concepts of priority of water use applicable there differ from those in general effect (being in fact "more democratic" in principle, not allowing the first owner who "encounters" a water source to have primacy of its use.).
Fortunately, here in southern New Mexico, near our home in Alamogordo, there are two wonderful examples of acequia systems in nearby towns, La Luz , just at the northern edge of greater (!) Alamogordo, and Tularosa, about 13 miles to the North (and home of the best Mexican restaurant in this part of the state).
The ditch systems there are not (in the main) any longer primarily serving farms. Rather, they often support plantings in city parks and such, or lines of trees along major streets and boulevards.
The networks start with a main ditch, called the aceqia madre (mother ditch). Lateral ditches are fed through it through manually operated slice gates to regulate the division of flow. The ditch walls are built up with berms so that the upper edge of the wall is higher than the level of the surrounding land.
All persons who wish to draw water from the ditch must become members of the ditch association (rather like a mutual insurance company). They are each obligated to make a certain annual financial contribution to the cost of operation and maintenance and, more significantly, must participate in the annual "clean out" of the ditches (for one thing, they get filled up with tumbleweeds and such). (The Spanish term for the event means "empty and clean".)
Members also periodically (as "ditch riders") inspect the entire ditch network to be certain that there are no problems.
Of course this is also a big social event, and in fact the ditch association overall has an enormous social aspect (much like many volunteer fire departments).
The head of the association is called the "Ditch Boss" (or often, in Spanish, the Majordomo). Among other things, he is responsible for maintain and administering the schedule of water withdrawal.
When it is time for one of the members to receive his water ration, a sluice gate downstream from his property is partly closed, causing the water level upstream (at his site) to rise.
In olden times, the member would just then break an opening in the raised berm of the ditch wall, allowing the water to flow by gravity onto his land. Then, when he was finished, he would fill in the break with mud and stones.
Today, at each draw point, there is a permanent "tap box" with a manually-operated sluice gate.
Here we see the acequia madre of the La Luz ditch system, running alongside a rural road leading into the mountains:
Douglas A. Kerr: The acequia madre at La Luz, New Mexico
Here we see one of the control sluices near the head end of the acequia madre:
Douglas A. Kerr: Sluice gate on the acequia madre at La Luz, New Mexico
This is where the acequia madre starts, fed from La Luz Creek:
Douglas A. Kerr: Head of the acequia madre
As La Luz Creek approaches La Luz, it crosses a local road "at grade" (what we might call a "ford"). It looks as if the flow is meager, but the width of the flow is substantial (the grade at the ford is made very flat).
Douglas A. Kerr: La Luz Creek approaches the town
Just beyond that ford, there is a dam; one purpose is to facilitate extraction of the water into the acequia madre at an adequate elevation to propel the water by gravity through the entire ditch system (no pumps are involved in the "normal" operation of acequia systems):
Douglas A. Kerr: Dam on La Luz Creek
Sadly, I do not yet have any shots of the lateral ditches and tap boxes. We hope to do that soon.
We also hope to cover the Tularosa ditch system.
Best regards,
Doug
In this system, water (typically from a mountain stream) is conducted by gravity across an entire area through a network of open ditches. At each farm served by the system, the water is drawn (on an established schedule) through openings in the side wall of the ditch.
The system was originally introduced by the Spanish colonists of the area, although it is really of South American origin.
Just as fascinating as the technical aspects of the system is the regimen of governance that emerged. Of course the orderly use of this resource was vital to the viability of the farms. As a result, a structure of strong governance was established that became a prototype for democratic governance of cities by a city council.
In fact, in many cases where a town or county government had not yet been formed in a rural area, the residents called upon the ditch governing body to form and operate a police department, fire brigade, and so forth.
These governing bodies are today usually called ditch associations.
In New Mexico, the laws governing water use rights accord special recognition to ditch associations, and the underlying concepts of priority of water use applicable there differ from those in general effect (being in fact "more democratic" in principle, not allowing the first owner who "encounters" a water source to have primacy of its use.).
Fortunately, here in southern New Mexico, near our home in Alamogordo, there are two wonderful examples of acequia systems in nearby towns, La Luz , just at the northern edge of greater (!) Alamogordo, and Tularosa, about 13 miles to the North (and home of the best Mexican restaurant in this part of the state).
The ditch systems there are not (in the main) any longer primarily serving farms. Rather, they often support plantings in city parks and such, or lines of trees along major streets and boulevards.
The networks start with a main ditch, called the aceqia madre (mother ditch). Lateral ditches are fed through it through manually operated slice gates to regulate the division of flow. The ditch walls are built up with berms so that the upper edge of the wall is higher than the level of the surrounding land.
All persons who wish to draw water from the ditch must become members of the ditch association (rather like a mutual insurance company). They are each obligated to make a certain annual financial contribution to the cost of operation and maintenance and, more significantly, must participate in the annual "clean out" of the ditches (for one thing, they get filled up with tumbleweeds and such). (The Spanish term for the event means "empty and clean".)
Members also periodically (as "ditch riders") inspect the entire ditch network to be certain that there are no problems.
Of course this is also a big social event, and in fact the ditch association overall has an enormous social aspect (much like many volunteer fire departments).
The head of the association is called the "Ditch Boss" (or often, in Spanish, the Majordomo). Among other things, he is responsible for maintain and administering the schedule of water withdrawal.
When it is time for one of the members to receive his water ration, a sluice gate downstream from his property is partly closed, causing the water level upstream (at his site) to rise.
In olden times, the member would just then break an opening in the raised berm of the ditch wall, allowing the water to flow by gravity onto his land. Then, when he was finished, he would fill in the break with mud and stones.
Today, at each draw point, there is a permanent "tap box" with a manually-operated sluice gate.
Here we see the acequia madre of the La Luz ditch system, running alongside a rural road leading into the mountains:
Douglas A. Kerr: The acequia madre at La Luz, New Mexico
Here we see one of the control sluices near the head end of the acequia madre:
Douglas A. Kerr: Sluice gate on the acequia madre at La Luz, New Mexico
This is where the acequia madre starts, fed from La Luz Creek:
Douglas A. Kerr: Head of the acequia madre
As La Luz Creek approaches La Luz, it crosses a local road "at grade" (what we might call a "ford"). It looks as if the flow is meager, but the width of the flow is substantial (the grade at the ford is made very flat).
Douglas A. Kerr: La Luz Creek approaches the town
Just beyond that ford, there is a dam; one purpose is to facilitate extraction of the water into the acequia madre at an adequate elevation to propel the water by gravity through the entire ditch system (no pumps are involved in the "normal" operation of acequia systems):
Douglas A. Kerr: Dam on La Luz Creek
Sadly, I do not yet have any shots of the lateral ditches and tap boxes. We hope to do that soon.
We also hope to cover the Tularosa ditch system.
Best regards,
Doug
