The Congreso de las Acequias was formally held on Saturday morning, December 5th, out at the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds. It spilled a bit through
lunch, which was (thankfully) a little less...Midwestern than the Friday banquet (no offense, I was born in Ohio, so I can say that about my people). Although Friday was a far busier day because of
workshops, since the Saturday session is largely a closed loop ceremony for elections/resolutions, it was interesting to see some modifications occurring in the "regional" acequia structure. Instead of only representing the larger regional associations that are composed of several acequias, they are adding a "type 2" region that represents areas that are currently not included in the NMAA structure. So, now there are "type 1" regions, like the current Taos Valley assocation, the Rio Jemez association (etc.) but also smaller acequias more interspersed throughout the state (such as the Rio Hondo in southern New Mexico). Apart from sounding a bit like "types" of diabetes, I think this is a smart move for NMAA to complete. Whether that brings higher attendance and more buy-in from individual, much less regional, acequias...we'll have to see. But it's an encouraging to be more inclusive and not just have regional delegates, the latter really reflecting the state's agenda of adjudication. It is in their best interest to create larger umbrella structures so that even small acequias, unincorporated, can access policy-makers and start to voice their issues with an organization that can do something for them.
As a geographer, I'm fascinated of course in this whole "regionalization" exercise that NMAA is engaged in; again, the whole point of regional acequia delegations, at first, was to deal with adjudication costs and legal issues that were difficult to pay at the hyper-local level. Continuing to support local acequias, from the regional level, is critical throughout the process of adjudication. And most are doing
well, by all accounts. There was some disagreement from attending parciantes, on a few regions where the "regional board" commissioners were not necessarily willing to share information with their smaller acequia brethren. Even in the Congreso, when minutes from last year's meeting were passed out, only the delegates (your name tag + blue ribbon) were allowed to have a copy. I get it - at an ecological level, to save paper is a good thing - but here, I'm troubled that this is an accidental secretive move. These organizations do not need to be as
secretive about paperwork, that is largely public record, as the
Pueblo are about their religious practices in kivas. This is not just my blustering or bland opinion, but a set of common views that have been gathered across numerous basins in the state. And, to be fair, the record-keeping workshop on Friday showed how useful this transparency can be not just for acequias dealing with taxation or the state, but with each other: Each ditch could share documents, especially when useful for others (water banking rules, governance on surface rights transfers, etc...).
The whole advantage of these gatherings is, as noted in the first post below on the Congreso, that everyone from around the state has a chance to compare (water) war stories about how they are dealing with intra-acequia, inter-acequia, and acequia-OSE disagreements, to use only three examples.
The morning session of the Congreso was dedicated to a
panel session focused on infrastructure concerns for acequias. Panelists from the Soil and Water Conservation District (Peter Vigil-Taos), from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (Norman Vigil), Esteban Gomez (ISC, Board Chair), a stand-in for Senator Bingaman, and Vince Cordoba (Parciante/Commissioner, Puerto de Luna ditch near Santa Rosa) presented their thoughts on how to coordinate requests, keep paperwork moving along, and there were constant reminders that it's "on you" to hold the agencies responsible, to demand accountability, and consistency. Fine, but tell that to the water mandarins...I mean, "masters." Tell that to the Corps of Engineers, run by military officers. It's no wonder that many people are intimidated, and if not scared, or worse yet, ignored. Dealing with the acronym soup of state and federal agencies is, by all accounts, tiring and confusing to most small-scale irrigators. If there are Ombudsman programs for adjudication, then perhaps something similar could be tried for infrastructure needs on acequias?
I close with a simple photo of a
great "priority date" cap, given to me by Don Eloy Garcia and the Runstroms, from Chamita, New Mexico. Chamita is the current day village of where the old (and first) capital of San Gabriel was located by
Onate himself in 1598. They established the capital on an abandoned site: Yunque (aka Yungue) Pueblo.* Everyone who has read a single book on Spanish water policy and land settlement plans in the New World knows that the acequia was the first thing to be built in arid lands. It was a requirement to "prove up" a village and a new frontier (see Rivera's 1998
Acequia Culture book, page 4). Apparently, OSE is trying to declare the entire system as 'abandoned' since the capital was moved to Santa Fe in 1610 by de Peralta (or Montoya, still unclear). The logic, apparently followed at OSE, is that surely everyone must have moved and so the ditch was abandoned.
Ridiculous. Some of the first documents testifying to Onate's activities are the digging of the ditch, of course with some local (= Yunque and San Juan Pueblo,
Ohkay Ohwingeh today) help at San Gabriel. Just because the capital was moved, OSE, does not mean that the site was abandoned. If not used concurrently by Spanish settlers, even after moving the capital, San Juan would have made good and surely consistent use of this system, even in the 12-13 year period after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 before deVargas came storming back in during 1692-93. When deVargas returned, it was clear that sites that had been occupied by Spaniards, Mexicans, and Genizaros (Christianized Indians, a catch-all term), were still being used (=irrigated) and occupied by the Pueblo even during that period.
Is that not beneficial use?
...end of rant.
The re-election of the current concilio members was fairly swift, rather uncontested, and brought about adjournment of the two-day Congreso activities. The workshops (previous post) were educational and worthwhile and sparked several interesting ideas that could help acequias survive and thrive in the long run...but more on that later. Bottom line:
Well done, NMAA, on organizing such a successful and educational event!!!
* correction 12.14.09
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