Wed. 4/20 at 830am: On Watersheds As Commons, we'll listen to voices of people who were born into Hispano culture of northern New Mexico, people whose points of view were shaped in large measure by the arid habitat of a homeland still held sacred by those whose ancestors tapped roots into the northern R?o Grande bioregion some twenty generations ago.Estevan Arellano lives in Embudo on land that was nurtured by his ancestors -- land that is watered by an acequia, or irrigation ditch that is tended by members of the community where he lives. Acequias nurture many villages in northern New Mexico increasing the span of riparian habitat even as they irrigate fields or corn, chiles, garlic, beans, melons, squash, apples, apricots, and other crops that have sustained Hispano culture through the centuries. The acequia system is regarded by many as a perfect example of a commons?the common sharing of a natural resource without which life could not exist.
Slideshow photo: a view of the Rio Grande at Embudo Station