Unsettled Waters: A blog on water rights in the American West

So it's been confirmed that the House and the Senate both have bills, going to "mark up" in sub-committees, on the federal portion of the Aamodt and Abeyta adjudications. Both of these cases are "celebrating" 43rd and 40th anniversaries, respectively, so will it end this neatly? Will the Congress find the money (or more debt) to pay for these settlements? In both cases, expensive projects are part of the plan, or as they bills refer to them "regional water systems" of one sort or another. It's clear that the Abeyta (Taos) case has a bit more community support and a little less friction in between the lines, so it will be an interesting way to track how the two adjudications have been handled by community, Pueblo, local, state, and finally...federal officials. But the "federal role" is to make sure there are funds in place. Will our Congress find the will to enact one, or both, of these settlements? Stay tuned... HR 3342 Aamodt settleme...

Cochiti Lake, Rio Grande, main spillway...once a river, now a central spillway, plus two canals on either side... Rio Grande diorama, at the Cochiti Lake Visitor Center (A. Corps of Engineers), virtual water "illuminated" in blue down the rivercourse. So maybe this is the opposite of what engineers would call "wet" water?

A quick visit to the S.Fe Farmer's Market this morning was hassled, busy, yet productive in the end. I was able to speak for a few minutes to Don Bustos, organic farmer extraordinaire, from Santa Cruz (Espanola area), about adjudications in his area. He noted that some of the local Pueblos were contesting the latest adjudications and maps and that this might compromise any quick close to the legal process in the area. These were apparently over "quarter acres, half acres, small bits of land" supposedly. Stay tuned... I also met for the first time, and was humbled by, Stanley Crawford of Dixon, NM. For the uninformed, Mr. Crawford's book, simply titled "Mayordomo," still stands as the best description of irrigation management on a small-scale in New Mexico. He was also hammered by a flock of produce shoppers, so we speak for maybe five minutes. Still, I look forward to visiting Crawford's "El Bosque" Garlic farm in Dixon. It should be a treat. ...

Dave C and Eric P, debating trans-basin acequia diversions, here near the headwaters of the Rio en Medio, as part of it gets split (background) into the Rio Chupadero for irrigation. Photo courtesy of Eric Shultz.

In late-breaking news, I just had some interesting exchanges with two graduate students (one in anthropology, the other in development sociology) doing quite similar work to what I have been either doing or dreaming about doing. One, the sociologist, is also incorporating a component of "conflict resolution literature" and thinking, while the anthropologist is more ethnographically centered on understanding the impacts (real or potential) of adjudication and these lawsuits (like Aamodt) on acequia districts. This is both heartening and challenging, since I don't want to be engaged in research "scooping" of graduate students -- so there's real promise for an unholy trifecta of disciplinary perspectives on this topic, but we'll have to pay attention to who's on the rope and whether the net will catch all of our ideas. Fun...

So, after about three weeks of reading, discussions with 'water experts,' site visits, interviews, and driving around...it's clear to me that adjudication in New Mexico should have ignored acequias (and Pueblos!) entirely in terms of water rights. Their needs are so "small water" compared to the urban projects underway to deliver water ("big water") that trying to take poor Hispanic and Pueblo irrigators to court and make them 'prove up' their water rights is like trying to fumigate every apple in an orchard individually...silly. A quick visit out to the Buckman Project site confirmed these thoughts as I heard engineers, hydrologists, and a lawyer discuss their plans to siphon off Rio Grande waters from near the White Rock overlook area, and pump that water uphill to the suburbs and holding tanks west and southwest of Santa Fe. Oh, but it's not Rio Grande water, it's technically "San Juan and Chama Rivers" water that Santa Fe ...