Acequia de Alcalde

Noticias

2022-2023

$60,000 awarded to Acequia de Alcalde

During the 2022 Legislative Session the Acequia de Alcalde requested financial assistance to make improvements to our Acequia infrastructure. We are happy to announce that Acequia de Alcalde was awarded $60,000 in capital outlay through the efforts of Representative Roger Montoya and Senator Leo Jaramillo. The bonds were sold recently and our acequia commission is hoping to receive a contract from the New Mexico Department of Finance in the very near future. We are hoping to be able to utilize the funds this winter before the next irrigating season. There are several places along our acequia that need work and a fist of proposed projects will be discussed at our annual acequia meeting to gather input from our parciantes on which sites should receive preference.

Diversion Dam (Presa) Assessment Report

This past summer the Nueve Acequias Regional Association of which the Acequia de Alcalde is a member received a grant from the Interstate Stream Commission to do Presa Assessments on each of our dams. Our Presa was constructed in 1985 and after 35 years of service there is indication that several repairs and upgrades are needed in order to maximize its life. William J. Miller Engineers was retained and they conducted a hydrological analysis and assessment of our presa and provided recommendations for upgrades and repairs and a budgetary cost estimate. Assessments of all seven presas that serve all nine acequias in our region were completed and each received specific recommendations. Alcalde's report will be available for viewing at our annual meeting.

Lateral Ditches (Sangrias)

There are numerous lateral ditches that feed off the main Acequia de Alcalde Canal. Lateral ditches also known as Sangrias are smaller acequias that divert water from the Acequia Madre and take it to more than one parciante, many times running through one or more private land parcels. There are many lateral ditches that feed off the Acequia Madre and it is expected that all parciantes that have them allow other landowners that depend on them to access the lateral ditch to irrigate and to maintain them. The Acequia Mayordomo and Commission have received numerous complaints that some landowners are not allowing legal access through these laterals to parciantes that have a legal right to irrigate through these laterals and to do maintenance on them. Please be informed that under state law a lateral or sangria has the same protections and rights that the Acequia Madre has. Section 73-2-64 of the New Mexico State Statutes prohibits anyone from blocking, interfering with or stealing water without permission from any acequia or dam, or any contra or lateral acequia thereof. In addition, 73-2-5 NMSA 1978 states that is unlawful to interfere with the Acequia Madre or Acequia Secundaria (Lateral) or prevent access to the ditch by the owner of the dominant estate. 73-2-5 NMSA 1978 states that "for purposes of this section, the easement created pursuant to this section shall be adequate to allow for reasonable maintenance, use and improvements to the ditch. In the past the Acequia Commission has not been involved in settling disputes on laterals but we have been advised by attorneys of the New Mexico Acequia Association that it is the responsibility of the Acequia Commission to intervene and enforce our Acequia Bylaws and the New Mexico State Statutes regarding lateral ditches.

New Mexico Acequia Association Grant Award

Alcalde and Las Nueve Acequias received a $10,000 Grant Award to conduct an Assessment and pre-engineering report on each acequias first priority infrastructure project. The Acequia de Alcalde has identified a half mile stretch of our Acequia in Los Luceros as a priority for repair. The section of Acequia from the Jemez House Arroyo through the old dairy property has been costly to maintain as each year there are gopher hole leaks, bank stabilization issues and erosion problems that need to be addressed. Sierra Engineering Solutions conducted a Project Development Proposal for the Acequia de Alcalde. Commissioners can now utilize this document to seek funding to make improvements to this section of the Acequia. Funding agencies require that Acequias seeking funding should have shovel ready projects and proposals. This Development Proposal provides Acequia de Alcalde the necessary information to seek funds.

2022 Acequia Maintenance Report

Removing Cottonwood Trees that fall across our Acequia seems to be the maintenance issue that has kept our Mayordomo and Commissioners busy this past irrigation season. Three very large cottonwood trees were removed this past year and there are three other trees that are impeding the flow of water that will need to be removed prior to the next irrigating season. One large tree blocking the flow of water is located behind the El Mirador and two others are located at the Cottonwood Ranch.

Rebalces

Our bylaws state that a rebalce is not to be left across the Acequia when the parciante is not irrigating and especially during the night if the parciante is not constantly checking it. There are several parciantes that are leaving their rebalces in place throughout the entire irrigating season. This coming year our Mayordomo will be enforcing our Acequia bylaw on rebalces by monitoring the use of rebalces and warning and/or issuing citations. Leaving rebalces in place for extended periods of time backs up water that seeps into the bordo and is one of the causes of so many trees coming loose and falling across the Acequia. RebaIces also cause scouring which creates erosion and damage to the bordos. Silting also occurs because rebalces block silt from flowing down stream.