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SENATE MEMORIAL 5
57
TH LEGISLATURE
- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -
FIRST SESSION
, 2025
INTRODUCED BY
Pete Campos
A MEMORIAL
DECLARING FEBRUARY 11, 2025 "ACEQUIA DAY" IN THE SENATE.
WHEREAS, for generations, acequias have supported a way of
life centered around local agriculture and customs of sharing
water; and
WHEREAS, acequias are a centuries-old form of water
governance in New Mexico that have created a cultural landscape
with a web of waterways that nurture tens of thousands of acres
of farmland; and
WHEREAS, acequia customs and traditions regarding
agriculture, seed saving, irrigation practices and food
preservation are important aspects of the cultural heritage of
New Mexico; and
WHEREAS, acequias contribute to the well-being and
livelihood of thousands of families who generate income from
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farming and ranching, thereby supporting diversification of New
Mexico's economy through local food production; and
WHEREAS, acequias and community ditches number over seven
hundred in New Mexico with each one governed, operated and
maintained by elected commissioners and mayordomos; and
WHEREAS, the role of acequias in local governance has been
affirmed by laws enacted by the state recognizing acequias as
political subdivisions and enabling acequias to have important
powers in local water management; and
WHEREAS, for more than fifty years, acequias have come
together to protect and defend water rights, advocate for water
policies strengthening acequia governance and support funding
programs for acequia infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, the New Mexico acequia association was
established in 1989 to advocate for water policy beneficial to
acequias, and the acequia commission was created in statute in
1993 to serve as an advisory body in state government; and
WHEREAS, hydrological studies by the New Mexico water
resources research institute at New Mexico state university
have documented hydrological benefits of acequias, including
aquifer recharge through earthen ditches; and
WHEREAS, as water management is complicated by long-term
drought and increasing demands for water, acequias will
continue to be important in any decisions about water policy at
the local and state levels;
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE
OF NEW MEXICO that February 11, 2025 be declared "Acequia Day"
in the senate in honor of the contributions of acequias to the
history, culture, economy and management of water resources in
New Mexico; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the New Mexico acequia association and the
acequia commission.
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