Acequia Madre of Santa Fe, Extends 2 miles west beginning near the Los Cerros Reservoir, Santa Fe

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER NM-25. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Acequia Madre of Santa Fe is an example of the acequias or irrigation ditches built by the Spanish from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries in the American Southwest. It is probably the oldest Spanish acequia system remaining in the Southwest and can easily be traced today. Description: The Acequia Madre receives water from the Santa Fe River above the intersection of Alameda Street and the river near the Los Cerros Reservoir. The acequia runs in a westerly direction through the city for over 2 miles, first following Acequia Madre Street and then East Manhattan. Most of the acequia is stone-lined and ranges from 4' to 5' wide. The Acequia Madre is not used regularly, but it does carry water when the river is at a high level.

History: Construction the Acequia Madre was probably begun when Santa Fe was founded in It was in use at the time of the Pueblo Revolt in The acequia supplied water for the domestic needs of the community and for irrigation. This system is probably the oldest Spanish acequia system remaining in the Southwest and can easily be traced today.

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER NM-25. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Barker, Ruth Laughlin. Caballeros. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, Incorporated, Crandall, Elizabeth L. Santa Fe. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, Davis, El Gringo: or, New Mexico and Her People. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, Old Santa Fe Today. The Historic Santa Fe Foundation. Santa Fe: The School of American Research, ACEQUIA MADRE OF SANTA FE HAER No. (Page 2) Twitchell, Ralph Emerson. Old Santa Fe. Santa Fe: New Mexican Publishing Corporation, The Palace of the Governors. The City of Santa Fe. Its Museums and Monuments. Santa Fe: Historical Society of New Mexico, Historians: Steve Rae, T. Lindsay Baker, and Joseph E. Minor, July 10 and October 23, and January 10,

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER NM-25. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Acequia Madre was inventoried for the Historic American Engineering Record as part of the Southwest Water Resources Project, a joint project with the Texas Tech Water Resources Center. The survey was subsequently published as Water for the Southwest: Historical Survey and Guide to Historic Sites by the American Society of Civil Engineers in September