Abstract
Agriculture-based irrigation communities of northern New Mexico have survived for centuries despite the arid environment in which they reside. These irrigation communities are threatened by regional population growth, urbanization, a changing demographic profile, economic development, climate change, and other factors. Within this context, we investigated the extent to which community resource management practices centering on shared resources (e.g., water for agricultural in the floodplains and grazing resources in the uplands) and mutualism (i.e., shared responsibility of local residents to maintaining traditional irrigation policies and upholding cultural and spiritual observances) embedded within the community structure influence acequia function. We used a system dynamics modeling approach as an interdisciplinary platform to integrate these systems, specifically the relationship between community structure and resource management. In this paper we describe the background and context of acequia communities in northern New Mexico and the challenges they face. We formulate a Dynamic Hypothesis capturing the endogenous feedbacks driving acequia community vitality. Development of the model centered on major stock-and-flow components, including linkages for hydrology, ecology, community, and economics. Calibration metrics were used for model evaluation, including statistical correlation of observed and predicted values and Theil inequality statistics. Results indicated that the model reproduced trends exhibited by the observed system. Sensitivity analyses of socio-cultural processes identified absentee decisions, cumulative income effect on time in agriculture, and land use preference due to time allocation, community demographic effect, effect of employment on participation, and farm size effect as key determinants of system behavior and response. Sensitivity analyses of biophysical parameters revealed that several key parameters (e.g., acres per animal unit or percentage of normal acequia ditch seepage) which created less variable system responses but which utilized similar pathways to that of the socio-cultural processes (e.g., socio-cultural or physical parameter change → agricultural profit → time in spent in agriculture → effect on socio-cultural or physical processes). These processes also linked through acequia mutualism to create the greatest variability in system outputs compared to the remainder of tests. Results also point to the important role of community mutualism in sustaining linkages between natural and human systems that increase resilience to stressors. Future work will explore scenario development and testing, integration with upland and downstream models, and comparative analyses between acequia communities with distinct social and landscape characteristics.
Highlights
Agriculture-based communities of northern New Mexico have survived for centuries despite the challenges of the arid environment in which they reside
We investigated the extent to which community resource management practices centering on shared resources and mutualism embedded within the community structure influence acequia function
A unique system dynamics model has been developed to investigate the resiliency of acequia comAmuunniqituieessiynsnteomrthderynnNamewicMs mexoicdoe.lWhhasilebkenenowdleevdegleoopfetdhetocoimnvpelestxiginatteerrtehleatrioesnislioefnccoymomf uanceitqyu, ia comecmonuonmitiicess, ienconloorgtyh,earnndNheywdrMoleoxgiycoh.aWs ahdilveaknnceodwglerdeagtelyoifnththeecolamstp2l5exyienatresr,rneolamtioondselotfoc-odmatme huansity, ecocnooumpliecds,theecsoelodgivy,erasneddihsycidprloinloesgfyohr ascseandarviaontceestdinggroear trloybiunstthaenallaysste2s5ofypeaortesn, ntioalmsyosdteeml tboe-hdaavteiohras couinpltehde tfhaceeseodf icvoenrtsineudoisucsipclliimneastef,oercsocneonmariico, atensdtisnogcioarl rcohbaunsgtesanoaclcyusrersinogf ipnottheentsioaul tshywsteesmterbnehUa.Sv.ior We theorized that community sustainability and resilience were rooted in acequia-based connectivity, i.e., the interaction between acequia members (i.e., Acequia mutualism) and the land and water resources they manage
Summary
Agriculture-based communities of northern New Mexico have survived for centuries despite the challenges of the arid environment in which they reside. Connectivity of people, land, and water, expressed as an integrated (whole) system, where management of water distribution and timing drives landscape function and influences community vitality, is critical for the survival of both people and the landscape, as the “success of landscape management practices [are] determined by engagement of society in working towards sustainable environmental futures” [9]. This social organization creates opportunities for community irrigators to be actively involved in acequia community issues and to build cohesion and reinforce the importance of acequia function that serves as the lifeline of the community
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