Acequia

An acequia (Spanish: [aˈθekja]) or séquia (Catalan: [ˈsekiə, -a], also known as síquia [ˈsikiə, -a], all from Andalusian Arabic: (ال)ساقية, romanized: (al-)sāqiya) is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Acequias are found in parts of Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and what is now the Southwestern United States (northern New Mexico and southern Colorado). In the United States, the oldest known irrigation canals are in Arizona and date back to 1200 BCE. Irrigation was extensively used by the Pueblo peoples in New Mexico in the Pre-Columbian era.

Spanish colonizers arrived in New Mexico in 1598 and brought irrigation methods from Iberia based on the Arab Agricultural Revolution.

Scholars describe acequias as "technological systems that are designed, maintained, and operated to meet a variety of productive goals, social services, and health needs, with the practice of irrigated agriculture being of paramount importance." The traditional form of governance over acequias survives in New Mexico and southern Colorado and is the oldest form of European resource management still alive in the United States today.

Acequias are filled by snow melt and rain to water orchards, gardens, and other agricultural fields. Other than watering crops, acequias have deep cultural significance for many Indigenous and Native communities in New Mexico and Colorado.