The first step toward irrigation was to clear our canal turnout of weeds and debris. Lacking a suit of armor, I used a hatchet, hoe, and hellfire to start cleaning the approximately 155 feet of canal we call our own.

After clearing the weeds, the next step was to figure out how to use the acequia to flood our field. We supposedly had water rights with our property, although we never fully understood what that meant.

For our flooding system farmers either have a metal guillotine-like gate with a wheel that pulls the gate up or down to impede the flow of water or they drop in homemade wood planks to do the same. Since we had no metal gate, I used about seven 2”x”4” boards to withstand the tremendous pressure the water imparts on the wood.

With a clean turnout and nothing else, I needed to dig a trench around all of our irrigable land so I wouldn’t flood our home or our neighbors’ properties. I didn’t have a tractor, so I set out with a shovel, pickaxe, and stubborn determination. I spent much of the next few days digging into hard-pan clay and dirt.

Like 499 toilets simultaneously flushing in a 500-unit apartment building, the water level fell dramatically and we learned that while our conservation district has a schedule for releasing the water, our neighborhood has no schedule for when individual properties dam up the water for their own turnouts. So, if someone upstream decides to flood their 10-acre property, water levels downstream are too low to flood for hours.

Several of our neighbors spied my frantic activity in preparing the property for flooding and joined in our excitement. We were overwhelmed with the culture and tradition of the acequia—here we were, starting a new, or rather reviving an old, tradition in our own backyard.

Watching the diverted Rio Grande water trickle onto our field and begin flooding was a powerful and moving experience.

With our field covered in replenishing water, Valerie and I celebrated with a well-deserved beer at the Chama River Brewing Company in Albuquerque. Beer never tasted so good than after such a meaningful accomplishment.