In water-scarce Southwest, ancient irrigation system disrupts big agriculture

Water in the American Southwest has never been abundant. Its availability fluctuates depending on conditions like drought and mountain snowpack that feeds streams and rivers. But experts predict a future of greater extremes: longer and hotter heat waves in the summer, less precipitation, decreased snowpack, and more severe and frequent droughts that will place greater stress on water users.

In New Mexico and Colorado, the “acequia” is more than just democratic water distribution — it is at the center of Southwest culture.

In New Mexico and Colorado, legal statutes enable an area’s original water users to transfer their portions of the resource, via pipelines, to the highest bidder virtually anywhere in the state. When scarcity hits, industrial mining and agricultural operations can afford to purchase additional water while small-scale farmers and ranchers remain vulnerable; in both states, water use already exceeds availability.

But for over a century, acequias – an ancient form of community water management originating at least 1,000 years ago and now used by small-scale and backyard farmers and ranchers – have resisted the flow of water toward corporations in New Mexico and Colorado. After receiving wider legal protections for self-governance in the 2000s, acequias are disrupting modern agricultural practices by assuring the equitable distribution of water to rural communities. An ancient system […]

Full article: In the water-scarce Southwest, an ancient irrigation system disrupts big agriculture

More about water in the Southwest:

United States: Water deficits to diminish in the SW, surpluses ahead for FL

New Mexico official: Texans are ‘stealing’ water and selling it back for fracking

Arizonians’ Thyroid Problems May Be Linked To Perchlorate In Drinking Water