Acequia

Scholars describe acequias as "technological systems that are designed, maintained, and operated to meet a variety of productive goals, social services, and health needs, with the practice of irrigated agriculture being of paramount importance.

Other than watering crops, acequias have deep cultural significance for many Indigenous and Native communities in New Mexico and Colorado.

[citation needed] Traditionally, the Spanish acequias have been associated with the Muslim colonization of the Iberian Peninsula; however the most likely hypothesis is that they improved on irrigation systems that already existed since Roman times, or even before.

[3] These ways of agricultural planning and colonization strategies come from the vast amount of cultural influences contributing to Spanish technology and governance.

Similar structures already existed in places such as Mendoza and San Juan, Argentina where acequias today run along both sides of the city streets.

The introduction of acequias by the Muslims allowed for more agricultural diversity, with crops such as sugar cane and citrus fruits introduced.

[7][8][9] This type of governance over acequias is to date the oldest depiction of European resource management still active in the United States today.

[4] When rainfall and snowmelt start to flow it is carried into the Acequia Madre and through the connecting channels throughout parts of New Mexico.

Among the most significant findings of this study was that the acequia farms provide vital ecosystem and economic base services to the regions in which they are located.

The concept of a shared responsibility natural resources reflects the beliefs stemming from the Spanish and Indigenous people who brought the acequia to the U.S.

The acequia was 8 mi (13 km) long and "constructed without the benefit of sophisticated tools and engineering know-how, accomplishing the seemingly impossible task" of bringing water from one side of the mountains to the other.