* This list was curated by the New Mexico Acequia Association for educational purposes only, and represents only a small portion of the resources available. We do not formally endorse any of these books or materials. V 3.30.2020 *

If you have suggestions of other materials to add – please email us at emily@lasacequias.org 

We will continue to update and add to this list.

Children 

* There are a limited number of children’s book available that are directly about acequias – so our suggestions also include books focused more broadly on New Mexico farming and food traditions. 

– Juan the Bear and the Water of Life: La Acequia de Juan del Oso – Enrique La Madrid and Juan Estevan Arellano (Spanish and English)

– The Mother Ditch / La Acequia Madre – Oliver La Farge (Spanish/English dual language)

– Owl in a Straw Hat, El Tecolote del sombrero de paja – Rudolfo Anaya

– Carlos and the Squash Plant; Carlos and the Cornfield; and Carlos and the Skunk – Jan Romero Stevens

– I Know the River Loves Me / Yo se que el rio me ama – Maya Cristina Gonzalez [Listen to the book read aloud here]

– In My Mother’s House – Ann Nolan Clark

– Abuelita’s Heart – Amy Córdova

– Los Ojos Del Tejedor: The Eyes of the Weaver – Cristina Ortega

– Tortilla Sun – Jennifer Cervantes [Listen to the book read aloud here]

– Tia’s Tamales – Ana Baca

– My Land Sings: Stories from the Rio Grande – Rudolfo Anaya

– The Santero’s Miracle: A Bilingual Story – Rudolfo Anaya

– Alejandro’s Gift – Richard E. Albert [Listen to the book read aloud here]

Young Adults & Up

– [Listen] ¡Que Vivan las Acequias! Radio Show – Acequias, Agriculture, Seed Sovereignty, Land, Water & Culture with Miguel Santistevan

– [Listen] Cancion de las Acequias – David Garcia and Jeremiah Martinez

– Bendición del agua – Poem by Olivia Romo, video and poem text

– Farmers Take to Legislature to Defend Water Traditions – Rio Grande Sun (2020)

– Centuries-old Irrigation System Shows How To Manage Scarce Water – National Geographic (2019) 

– A Bird’s-Eye View of Northern New Mexico’s Acequias – Alejandro López, Green Fire Times (2014) 

– Poet Olivia Romo sings to the acequias – Taos News (2020) 

– Doing Their Part: Acequias Feed Hope in Drought & Uncertainty – Taos News (2018)

– La Limpia de las Acequias, El Trabajo de Todos – Alejandro López, Green Fire Times (2018)

– Acequia Culture and Regional Food System – Miguel Santistevan, New Mexico Acequia Association Blog (2016)

– The Art of Acequia Irrigation In Times of Drought – Miguel Santistevan, New Mexico Acequia Association Blog (2018) 

– South Valley Farm Grows Connections Rooted In Culture – KUNM Radio (2015)

– Protecting A Centuries-Old Tradition – Santa Fe New Mexican (2017)

– Ancient Traditions Keep Desert Waters Flowing – Yes! Magazine (2010)

– In the Water-Scarce Southwest, an Ancient Irrigation System Disrupts Big Agriculture – Yes! Magazine (2017) 

– Why Does Barclays Want To Build a City in the Middle of the New Mexico Desert? – The Guardian (2015) 

– Communities Follow Centuries-Old Tradition of Blessing Waterways in Honor of San Ysidro – Albuquerque Journal (2016)

– Neighbors Taking Part in Tarea – Rio Grande Sun (2019)

– This Acequia Life – NM Political Report (2018)

University Students & Adults

Books – Non-Fiction

– Enduring Acequias: Wisdom of the Land, Knowledge of the Water – Juan Estevan Arellano (2014)

– Acequia Culture: Water, Land and Community in the Southwest – José A. Rivera (1998)

– Acequia: Water Sharing, Sanctity, and Place – Sylvia Rodriquez (2006)

– ¡No Se Vende! (Not for Sale) Water as a Right of the Commons – Kay Matthews (2018)

– Unsettled Waters: Rights, Law, and Identity in the American West – Eric Perramond (2018)

– Dividing New Mexico’s Waters 1700-1912 – John O. Baxter (1997)

– River of Traps – Bill deBuys and Alex Harris (1990)

– Sabino’s Map: Life in Chimayó’s Old Plaza; Chapter 7: Food from the Garden and the Llano – Don J. Usner (1996)

Books – Fiction

– Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico – Stanley Crawford (1993)

– Milagro Beanfield War – John Nicols (2000)

– Poetry of Remembrance: New and Rejected Works by Levi Romero (2008)

News Articles (also see list above in ‘young adults’ section)

– Returning to the North: The Limits of the Northern New Mexican Dream – Rio Grande Sun (2020) 

– A Vision for New Mexico’s Water – Paula Garcia, Santa Fe New Mexican (2019) 

– The Future of Acequias: ‘The Veins of Our Community’ – Rio Grande Sun (2020) 

– The Land is the Source of Our Identidad, Survival, Health, Strength and Happiness – Alejandro López, Green Fire Times (2016) 

– Repartimiento, Drought and Climate Change – Sylvia Rodriquez, Green Fire Times (2018)

– Can New Mexico’s Ancient Irrigation Canals Survive a Changing Climate? – The Food and Environment Reporting Network (2017)

– Acequias as a Sustainable Model for Hydrology Ecology – Quita Ortiz, Green Fire Times (2014)

– ¡Viva la Acequia! – On The Commons Magazine (2012) 

– Acequia Activism: Men and Women Help Protect A Vital Network of Irrigation Throughout New Mexico – Albuquerque Journal (2015)

Papers and Studies

– La cultura de las acequias, paisajes históricamente irrigados de Nuevo México – José A. Rivera and Luis Pablo Martínez, Agricultura, Sociedad y Desarrollo Vol 6 No 3 (2009) 

– Protecting Resources for Land-Based People: The New Mexico Water-Transfer Conundrum – David Benavides (2012)

– Acequias: Water Democracy in the US – Paula Garcia, Chapter 13 in ‘Water Matters: Why We Need to Act Now to Save Our Most Critical Resource’, Edited by Tara Lohan (2010)

– Acequias: A Model for Local Governance of Water – Paula Garcia in ‘Water Consciousness’, Edited by Tara Lohan, AlterNet Books (2008)

– The Rio Chama Basin: A Social-Ecological History Linking Culture and Nature – Sam Markwell, José A. Rivera, Moises Gonzales, and J. Jarrett García, Center for Regional Studies, University of New Mexico (2016)

– Customary Practice and Community Governance in Implementing the Human Right to Water: The Case of the Acequia Communities of Colorado’s Rio Culebra Watershed – Gregory A. Hicks and Devon G. Peña (2010)

– Hydrological, ecological, land use, economic, and sociocultural evidence for resilience of traditional irrigation communities in New Mexico, USA – Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions 11(2) (2014)

– Linked hydrologic and social systems that support resilience of traditional irrigation communities – Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 19(1):293-307 (2015)

– A framework for assessing ecosystem services in acequia irrigation communities of the Upper Río Grande watershed – Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water 2(5) (2015)

– Water Matters – The Utton Center (2015)