The Acequias project will examine their cultural and environmental importance throughout Taos, New Mexico and assist with preventative maintenance and restoration of community's Acequias.
Your destination is SMU-in-Taos, SMU’s beautiful 423-acre campus in Northern New Mexico. Our distinctive mountain campus offers courses during the summer and winter breaks. SMU-in-Taos is a unique academic environment that encourages experiential learning and interdisciplinary collaboration. Our beautiful campus, situated on the outskirts of Taos, New Mexico – in the heart of the Carson National Forest – is an ideal location for educational and recreational activities of all kinds and particularly lends itself to cultural and natural studies of Northern New Mexico. The mission of the SMU-in-Taos campus is to develop and enhance a strong academic courses in Southwest Studies and relevant areas of the arts and sciences by providing distinctive and challenging courses to both the SMU and Taos communities. While we remain focused on the undergraduate and graduate mission of Southern Methodist University. Our beautiful campus, situated on the outskirts of Taos, New Mexico--in the heart of the Carson National Forest, and particularly lends itself to cultural and natural studies of Northern New Mexico. Beyond the bounds of campus, the area in and around Taos and Santa Fe provides ample space in which to explore and learn.
Acequias developed over 10,000 years ago in the Middle East. These water distribution methods were brought to the New World by the Spanish. Acequias are the primary way that the communal resource of water is used for irrigation. The acequia is controlled by a mayordomo, or watermaster. The mayordomo is chosen by one vote from each irrigator and has the final say over water distribution. He ensures the system of acequias are functional and fairly used by all members. Today, this system of acequias is being revamped in Taos. Members of the Vigil y Romo acequia are working with the Taos Land Trust to restore this long-used irrigation system. Currently, area youth are being hired and trained to do most of the restoration work on the Taos acequias.
Acequias collect spring and summer runoff from rivers and lakes, and then they transmit water later in the year. Furthermore, Acequias store water underground which helps saving water on a regional scale by reducing evaporation losses. Also, there is seepage from the acequia ditches, the water is also seeping back into the groundwater through the irrigated land. “The seepage is diluting the nitrate in the groundwater and creating better-quality water that is recharging the aquifer and going back to the river,” Fernald said. Seepage helps diluting contaminants in the groundwater. This may help for remediating aquifers in case of an incident happened such as a chemical spill.
Acequias were primarily established 200 years ago, in the United States, and continue to be a main source of water to farms and ranches for the Picari Tribe in Taos New Mexico. Acequia practices help ensure that water resources will be equitably distributed within the prescribed area. All regions within a certain area will be able to meet water demand for the foreseeable future. Additional environmental impacts of acequia's include recharging the aquifers along with riparian habitat.
Service learning is a beneficial experience involving students actively engaging in a community-based service activity designed to encompass a given curriculum. You will gain hands-on skills, build your resume, and intergrade with a different culture while fulfilling the course. Students will conduct restoration, environmental clean-up, and field data collection; all planned to develop a student’s civic engagement, organizational and interpersonal skills. These experiences can be easily transferred into a future career or goal in a student’s given field.
Every spring, the acequias must be cleaned out by the community members who utilize it. The process is known as “sacando la acequia,” which translates to “taking out the acequia.” Community members work together to remove any debris that has fallen into the acequias and the silt that has accumulated on the bottom of the ditch. But now the community effort is lagging. “I miss that community effort. When we used to clean as a group, with the mayordomo and everybody working together, that’s when the exchange of family histories took place,” said William Gonzales, a farmer in Lourdes, New Mexico. “Once we quit doing that together…you didn’t have any kind of personal interaction with that individual.”
Dr. Young teaches at SMU's Master of Sustainability Program, including environmental policies, sustainable methods and renewable technologies. In addition, she mentors students in master's level courses. She is also an energy sustainment planner with the Fort Worth District Corps of Engineers.
Lori is a graduate student.
Lauren Melendez is currently serving our nation in the U.S. Coast Guard. Her capstone project is to integrate alternative sustainable wind energy into the Coast Guard.
Keshvar Buhariwalla is in the final stages of her masters degree. She is currently working on her capstone project "DonateInYourName.Org" creating a platform for meaningful gift giving.
Liomari is a graduate student focusing on the benefits of urban forestry.
Abdullah is a Ph.D student focusing on how to clean heavy metals and nano-particles from our oceans.
Katherine is a graduate student focusing on Social Equity as a vehicle to encourage sustainability practices.
Nic is a graduate student focusing on the sustainable, resilient production of energy for delivery into refugee encampments.
SMU-in-Taos
Southern Methodist University, CA
6185 Airline, Suite 338
Dallas, TX 75205
Dallas: smutaos@smu.edu
Taos: taosgroups@smu.edu
Dallas: (214) 768-3657
Taos: (575) 758-9269