*The views expressed in this blog are mine and do not represent those of the organizations discussed*
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An interesting symposium I just might have to attend and organized by the folks at New Mexico State University on acequia hydrology. That's all for today...
As I hinted a few days ago, there are some remarkable parallels between the historical geographies of water in the country (" S tate") of Spain and the s tate of New Mexico. I credit the information on Spain to a colleague in anthropology at McGill University (call him Ismael ; no, really). See back a couple of posts but Ismael's "Modernizing mountain water" appears in the co-edited volume Water, Place, and Equity (MIT Press, 2008)*, and is focused on the transformation of Pyrenean water use and its governance, largely on the Spanish side. I have put in a coarse table to outline the parallels between Spain's legal history on water and those of New Mexico. Table - NM by author, Spain from Vaccaro 2008 (230) TIME LINE New Mexico ...
A few days ago, I compared the interesting parallels (and differences) between New Mexico and the country of Spain. This time around, it's New Mexico and Bolivia ; here I want to create an opening for analyzing how both entities (again, a state, and a State respectively) have recognized local, customary water traditions. As you will see and appreciate, there are strong material parallels between how irrigators in Bolivia operate and how acequias in New Mexico handle water management and governance. The differences, however, are just as fascinating and have largely to do with how the claims to water are wrapped around cultural identity. My good colleague, Tom Perreault (Syracuse - Geography), wrote about the recent recognition in Bolivia of local "usos y costumbres" with special focus on the national irrigators' movement. Granted, that country has pursued an arguably anti-neoliberal path on water goverance in recent years, as Tom has suggested. But both Bolivia an...
I've been remiss. A few developments have occurred in New Mexico, mostly the passing of the Lower Rio Grande adjudication court deadline for the state (NM) to offer the feds (Reclamation) a quantified water right, and that date passed (April 8th). That quantified number will occur whether or not the Reclamation folks actually had or acquired (legally) such water rights at the time that Elephant Butte Dam was constructed. As always, the good folks at Jicarita have been watching this closely. And see Sig Silber's story about the LRG and the ongoing dispute about whether EBID was founded as part of an illegal 'taking' of a private dam and canal company. Hot stuff - and there's an update, too, on LRG proceedings here . Good news for irrigators in most of New Mexico is that the winter snowpack has piled up, thanks to ENSO, and unless all that snow melts in June, farmers and ranchers should have a decent 2010 growing season. Most of the canals are cleaned around the...
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