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Interesting. No way could the wheels in the one in my photo be turned! There were actually 2 on the property but I don't have a photo of it (that I know of!) That one is much bigger than the one in the photo.
There doesn't seem to be a clear channel behind that irrigation gate in the photo. Was the acequia abandoned or no longer properly maintained?
Apparently they are locked and can only be turned by certain personnel? I was misled. Was living on someone's property who was mentally ill, paranoid and who didn't always tell the truth or disclose adequate information. Thank you for the FYI.
Albuquerque sits on top of an aquifer, and gets its surface water from the Rio Grande. The water-supply is usually a combination of the two, but when the Rio Grande is running high in the spring, the municipal water comes from there, allowing the aquifer to replenish. After a banner year for snowmelt we are back in extreme drought conditions so we're relying on the aquifer. As the largest city in the state we have the most stable water-supply and have not had water restrictions like other cities such as Santa Fe and Las Vegas.
There are various reservoirs around the state which store surface water and supplement the supply.
Still, 80% of New Mexico's water goes to agriculture, the rest goes to municipal systems and other industries. When there are shortages, cuts are made to agricultural users. When you think of "all the people" in Albuquerque, they still use only a drop in the bucket compared to water-intensive agriculture.
The first time I saw ALBQ which was a long time ago I was amazed at some of the areas that had grass and trees , the parks were green and the trees were tall , there was even some completely shaded streets back then , I think the Aquifer must have had a lot more water in it then it does now. I think it is still a beautiful city for being in a desert .
I have an acequia on my property, there's main artery channels that flow pretty much constantly, those are pretty locked down and regulated, then side channels that get allotments occasionally. Those are just kinda more trust based - I opened mine when my downstream neighbor had his on full blast so the water didn't flood the front of my property. I had 2 days where my property could be flooded.
What's cool about the system is it's a very good way of capitalizing on high runoff years, letting it charge up groundwater and green an area. If there's water available and it's a low demand area, it works good. But it is not at all efficient. If there's more demand, piped water from the source of a dam or river is magnitudes more efficient than having a flood irrigation go and percolate down to a well. Most of it goes to putting grass in places for cows where there wouldn't have been grass naturally. Fine if there's no other use, but in competing scenarios, the cows should lose. I think a big takeaway is that modern residential life can get by on very little water, as Albuquerque and Las Vegas NV show. It's ag and industry that suck it up, so they are the ones that have to balance what's available and what can be used.
It's probably more expensive, but the best option is both. Ideally houses would have a municipal water system, with acequias available on abundant years to distribute out the overflow.
I came upon Earth Ship while driving to the Rio Grande bridge - [URL]https://www.newmexico.org/earthships/[/URL]
How do people in Northern New Mexico get water?
Not the earth ships but everyone else - I see ranches thousands of feet above any visible water source.
Wells provide water. I'm pretty far north and I have a residential 230ft well with 3 acre feet per year usage. We're surrounded by mountains and the ground water basins are recharged by snow melt and by agricultural water use. Acequias provide surface water for farmers and are managed by ditch associations. People who own property a ditch traverses may or may not actually have water rights. In areas that don't have easily or affordably accessible water, some people use catchment systems and cisterns.
160 years ago this is what they used to get water to their homesteads and crop fields. It's an irrigation ditch next to where I lived for 2 years. Northern New Mexico.
Wells provide water. I'm pretty far north and I have a residential 230ft well with 3 acre feet per year usage. We're surrounded by mountains and the ground water basins are recharged by snow melt and by agricultural water use. Acequias provide surface water for farmers and are managed by ditch associations. People who own property a ditch traverses may or may not actually have water rights. In areas that don't have easily or affordably accessible water, some people use catchment systems and cisterns.
3 acre feet is HUGE for just a house. Goes to show that there's water for sure, just not in every geographic location. You could fill in the 200 acre pasture behind me solid with homes and they'd use less water than the hay field is using.
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fascinating
