ABSTRACT
The Spanish were the first Europeans to establish a system of irrigation—acequias—in what is now the United States. Acequias are community irrigation systems found in the villages and pueblos of New Mexico and the Southwest. The acequia tradition of governing them at the community level and making collective decisions about access and use of water were imbedded in some of the practices and laws in the West, but not in others. Spanish water law would be influential, but also highlighted contests and conflicts over water rights and water governance. Aridity dominated the Southwest. The northern boundary of Nueva Espana in the sixteenth century ranged from extremely arid to semi-arid, except for the eastern part of Texas. The European and indigenous cultures came together in the building of a vast system of irrigation in the Southwest including New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Texas.
