Land Use Change Impacts on Acequia Water Resources in Northern New Mexico

Abstract

Rural areas throughout the western United States are undergoing rapid and farreaching land use changes that impact water management, riparian ecosystems, and traditional cultures. Areas that have historically been focused on agricultural activities are being converted to various confi gurations of residential and urban land use (Anella and Wright 2004). Impacts to water resource use and management include: potential risks of ground water contamination due to increased numbers of single household septic systems, potential overdraft of ground water resources, surface water quality impacts, and changes in the distribution of water supplies from agricultural to municipal and industrial uses. In northern New Mexico, the acequia 1 water use regime and attendant acequia-related cultural values are at particular risk due to increasing urbanization pressures and the potential impacts on actual water use, water quality, and riparian vegetation along the Rio Grande and irrigation ditches (Rivera 1998; New Mexico Acequia Association 2006 ). In the research we present in this paper, we employ Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, and aerial photography interpretation techniques to create a series of land use maps to assess the impacts of land use change on critical water resources and local communities along the Alcalde Reach of the Upper Rio Grande Basin. Through discussions with acequia members and examination of related archived documents, we also began preliminary exploration into cultural values associated with the acequia system and the traditional way of rural life. The land use maps that we generate depict the intersection of land use changes and the attendant impacts to water resource use and management – risks to ground water, changes in acequia management and water use, and riparian ecosystem impacts. This project is well suited to provide local and state planning programs with constructive methods for further research, and is also applicable to other western states with similar challenges.