Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico

by Stanley Crawford

Overview

Irrigation ditches are the lifelines of agriculture and daily life in rural New Mexico. This award-winning account of the author's experience as a mayordomo, or ditch boss, is the first record of the life of an acequia by a community participant.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826325914
Publisher:	University of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	05/01/1988
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Stanley Crawford lives in Dixon, New Mexico.

Editorial Reviews

Acequias are community irrigation ditches that operate under a patchwork of state, federal and traditional Spanish water laws; the same term applies to the members' association. Each acequia is governed by a commission of three landowners ( parciantes ) who are assessed in work or money and who obtain water according to the size of their plots of land. The mayordomo is ditch manager and is paid a small salary during the irrigation season. Crawford records one year in the life of a small acequia (30 members) while he was mayordomo ; the season begins with work crews clearing the ditch in March. This is a low-key account of interdependence and cooperation in an isolated community, mainly Hispanic. The mayordomo is responsible for keeping the ditch clear of debris, making sure each parciante gets his share of water and rationing water in dry seasons. Both the setting and the hard manual labor reflect the past, recalling the earliest settlers who performed the same tasks. Crawford has written an elegant piece of Western Americana. Mayordomo won the 1988 Western States Book Award for Creative Nonfiction. (August)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Crawford writes with concern about the potential effect of new water laws on a close-knit Hispanic community currently operating their irrigation ditch (or acequia) under traditional Spanish laws. Fed only by melting snow, the Acequia de la Jara is of central importance to the landowners in this hilly area of sparse rainfall, for their crops depend on it. Overseeing maintenance and fair usage of the ditch is thus crucial, and following a centuries-old custom Crawford was elected mayordomo to oversee its welfare. A lucid, finely detailed account of a way of life in Western America that may be coming to an end; winner of the 1988 Western States Book Award for creative nonfiction. Evelyn G. Callaway-Helm, Sun City Lib., Ariz.

Library Journal

"A fabulous book."—Cath Hassell, ech2o

From the Publisher