These are the rules the parciantes voted on at the annual meeting on Sunday, December 6, 1998. Most of them are older than any of us. A few were added because somebody did something, and I will not say who. If you have a question about a rule, ask the mayordomo first, and if you do not like his answer, ask the commission. Do not ask me to change a rule on this page. I only type it.

The rules

1. The limpia. Every parciante cleans the ditch on the day set at the annual meeting. You owe one peón for every acre or part of an acre. A peón must be sixteen or older and must bring a shovel. If you cannot send a peón, you pay $20 for each one, on or before the day of the limpia.
   
   
2. The mayordomo has the water. Only the mayordomo opens or closes the compuerta at the presa. When he says the water is short, it is short.
   
   
3. Wait for your turn. When the ditch is on the schedule, nobody takes water outside his days and hours. If your neighbor is not using his turn, you may use it only if he tells you so and the mayordomo knows.
   
   
4. Close your gate. When your time is over, close your headgate and let the water go on down. The people at the bottom end are parciantes too.
   
   
5. Your own sangría. Each parciante keeps his own sangría clean and his own headgate in good repair. A leaking gate is stealing, even if you did not mean it.
   
   
6. Keep the ditch clean. No trash, no grass clippings, no oil, no dead animals in the ditch. Do not wash your truck at the ditch. Children may play in it. Dogs may swim in it. That is all.
   
   
7. Nothing new without permission. No new headgates, culverts, pipes, bridges or ponds on the acequia without the commission's permission in writing.
   
   
8. The ditch bank. The mayordomo must be able to walk the whole ditch. If you fence your land, leave room on the bank and put a gate where he can open it. Do not plant trees on the bank.
   
   
9. In a dry time. The commission may shorten the turns. Until the commission meets, what the mayordomo decides that day stands.
   
   
10. Dues. $12 for each acre, due by the annual meeting. A parciante who owes two years of dues gets no water until he pays.
    
    
11. Water rights. A parciante who wants to sell or move his water right off the acequia must tell the commission first. The acequia may protest the transfer before the State Engineer. Water that leaves the ditch does not come back.
    
    
12. Fines. Taking water out of turn: $25 the first time and $50 the second, decided by the commission. A third time goes to the annual meeting.

The water schedule

In the spring, when the river is high, there is enough for everyone and you water when your land needs it, as long as you do not waste it. When the river drops, the mayordomo puts the ditch "on the days." This year that was Monday, June 21. From then until the water comes out in October, the ditch is shared like this:

Each section's days run from sunup to sunup. Inside the section the water goes down the ditch in order, top to bottom, about fifty minutes for each acre you have. The mayordomo writes the hours on the list and puts it on the board at the post office every Sunday night. If your hours fall at two in the morning, that is your water. Bring a flashlight. My father irrigated by lantern and he never once complained, except to my mother.

When the rains come and the river comes up again, the mayordomo may take us off the days. He will tell everybody, and he will put it on the board.

Other dates