* 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] 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)
– 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)
– 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)
– Repartimiento, Drought and Climate Change – Sylvia Rodriquez, Green Fire Times (2018)
– Acequias as a Sustainable Model for Hydrology Ecology – Quita Ortiz, Green Fire Times (2014)
– ¡Viva la Acequia! – On The Commons Magazine (2012)
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)
I want to thank you for this list. It saves TONS of work for me!