Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico

by Stanley Crawford

Irrigation ditches are the lifelines of agriculture and daily life in rural New Mexico. This award-winning account of the author's experience as a mayordomo, or ditch boss, is the first record of the life of an acequia by a community participant.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Nature, Environment, Westerns

243 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Crawford is the author of "Gascoyne," "Petroleum Man," "Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine," "A Garlic Testament: Seasons on a Small New Mexico Farm," "Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico," "The River in Winter," and "Some Instructions to My Wife Concerning the Upkeep of the House and Marriage and to my Son and Daughter Concerning the Conduct of their Childhood." He lives in new Mexico with his wife, RoseMary, where they own and run a garlic farm.

Reviews

[Abby]

This is literally a 230-page book about an irrigation ditch, and by all the laws that govern such things, it should be boring as hell. But somehow it's not. I am so, so happy this book exists, and it makes me love Stanley Crawford even more that he would have thought this was a good idea.

These are the origins of modern political systems: delicate, elegant, flexible, elaborate, male-dominated ways of managing finite resources in which everyone has a stake. Mayordomo is incredibly insightful about what it takes to make those systems work in the face of variable weather and personalities. And they do work. Not perfectly, but with longevity. It's so difficult on the scale of a nation.

But there is no real clarion call to the modern age in these prose. The motion of water is the draw of the book. Stanley Crawford is like if Wendell Berry had decided he was not a prophet-farmer, he was just a farmer. Crawford is sensitive, observant, keenly alive to the people and the place, and also kind of resigned, as old farmers get to be sometimes. It's a voice that doesn't presume this valley has anything important to teach the wider world. It exists for itself.

[Laura Pritchett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book -- and I am also loving his newest novel, just out, called VILLAGE, about a small community in northern New Mexico (reminds me of Winesburg, Ohio - where you get to know the town by all the alternating points of view). Stanley Crawford is a brilliant writer - love all this books. Real people, real grit of life, and funny too.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much to like about this book. Crawford provides an insider's look at the culture and politics of acequia farming in northern New Mexico. This "year in the life of" account is informative, insightful and, buttressed by strong writing, a treat to read, though there were moments, late in the book, when the dryness of the subject matter led to brief stints of boredom.

[M. Sarki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty much a complete bore and a book a person with absolutely nothing better to do with one's life would read. That person is not I. A disappointing read that never got me out of the ditch. And if the book did get better later on perhaps old Stanley should have started there.

[Stephen Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely little book that dives deep into a very narrow subject. I love the history of acequias wound in with the day to day life of keeping the water flowing in a parched land.

[Japhet Els · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crawford writes with concern about the potential effect of new water laws on a close-knit Hispanic community currently operating their irrigation ditch (or acequia) under traditional Spanish laws. Fed only by melting snow, the Acequia de la Jara is of central importance to the landowners in this hilly area of sparse rainfall, for their crops depend on it. Overseeing maintenance and fair usage of the ditch is thus crucial, and following a centuries-old custom Crawford was elected mayordomo to oversee its welfare. A lucid, finely detailed account of a way of life in Western America that may be coming to an end

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely wonderful account of the true life of Crawford's time as the Mayordomo (leader) of a two-mile long community irrigation ditch (acequia) in Dixon, NM-- not far from where I live. This takes pace in the 1980's after Crawford moved to rural NM, after being educated at the University of Chicago, the Sorbonne, and the University of California, Berkeley. Water is truly life for the subsistence farmers and there are more than 1000 acequias in NM, each with hundreds of years of tradition. The author was a garlic farmer on a small plot. The writing is simple and glorious, with commentary on the myriad webs of relationships in small communities and on living close to the earth.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry in the telling of mundane life in northern NM. If you're interested in the culture and people that hasn't really changed in many, many years then find a quiet moment to read this. Don't expect action or much movement. This is just a visual slice of life on a farm and its people.

[Sally Schlehlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting little read, I was fascinated with the ditch running and the history of the Asequias in New mexico.

[David Rudin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quiet portrait of rural community tied together by an irrigation ditch that flows through the small farms and lives of the people of northern New Mexico.

It took a little while but the story grew on me slowly, almost imperceptibly. The tales of the various people, their quirks, faults, tragedies and triumphs are shared by a community that depends upon one another to parse out the life giving irrigation water to their small patches of crops like chiles, apple orchards and alfalfa. Unlike most of the modern western world these people need one another in order to accomplish an essential task.

During dry years, the sharing of water becomes more fraught with conflict. It requires not only negotiating with those on each acequia but amongst many of the other adjoining acequias. Some people, like the author, are connected to more than one and thus their divided loyalties come into play during the negotiations.

In the end it is their mutual interdependence that requires them to work it out and thus the fabric of their communities are closer knit and stronger than those in society at large who may not even know their neighbors much less have to work with them on a common task. This is an older, wiser way of living that we ignore at our own peril.

[Colton Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you grew up in a desertous climate as I did you know that water is a thing of intrigue there in a way it is not in the eastern half of the country. The acequias of Northern New Mexico are a thing of intrigue because of their long term stewardship of this precious commodity. This was an excellent book and reminded me of many chats over fears of water in New Mexico, albeit this being over irrigation ditches pulling from rivers rather than aquifers, and the culture that has been allowed to blossom there since outsiders seem to never want to fully invade the state.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When we decided to move to New Mexico, we knew there were many things we needed to learn about the land, its history, and the cultures of its people. The acequia system brings those three things together in a beautifully complex way. Crawford’s book is a poetic exploration of a year on a acequia not too far from us.

[Bruce Welton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this read quite a bit. Yes, it’s about maintaining ditches, but these ditches are part of the soul of many northern New Mexico communities, and by sharing with us about the care of a ditch, Crawford also speaks some about care in these small communities. Neighbors joined in a singular, age-old cause- to keep water coming to their plots and plants.

[Zoe Hemez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful! Crawford does an amazing job at personifying the natural landscape of Northern NM. A little slow and plodding at times, but always meaningful and poetic.

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We all laugh, Buddy too: yes, this man know how to make this small thing, this chore, into more than we commonly imagine, and what can be more important to know in this life, than just that. And we laugh for once not in mockery but in delight." (228-9)

[Terry Mulcahy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having spent only one day a year cleaning the community irrigation acequia in Placitas, New Mexico, where the winery I worked at was located, I was fascinated by this story of the acequias en el norte. There are details of the meetings, the disputes, and all the politics of making sure that the water that flows through an acequia gets to everyone that either needs it or are entitled to as a parciante, or one who has shares in the association based on the size of their irrigatable land. That water is for irrigation or livestock. Drinking water is provided by wells or municipal water pipes.

I saw some of this in action in Placitas, with some people selling off plots of land with the water rights, and then claiming water rights anyway for themselves. Attempts to have all the irrigatable land and ditches surveyed, with a clear idea of who is entitled to how much water, are strongly resisted, as a plot by the gringos to steal all the water.

And then there are all the politics of water use as Crawford tells it. It's a fascinating story of a community working together (mostly) for a common good. The storytelling is well-paced, very descriptive, and as honestly portrayed as it is possible, given that ditch rights are rooted in history and subject to memory and sometimes greed, and sometimes extreme need.

[Susan Eubank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here are the questions we discussed at the Reading the Western Landscape Book Club at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden.

• How did the author’s writing style affect your reading of the book?
• What was the most astonishing fact you learned?
• Give examples of how this rural environment significantly differs from our urban one? Are there beneficial aspects of that environment that could be adapted to urban areas?
• Give an example of something interesting you learned from one of the various characters?
• What was the most encouraging aspect of the book? The least?
• Was there anything in this book that had you reflecting on your working style?
• Was there anything in the book you really didn’t understand?
• Do you have any tales to tell of water systems that you have interacted with?

[Bob Finch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice memoir of a gringo majordomo (ditch boss) in Taos, New Mexico.

[Nadine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rio Arriba is so foreign and yet feels so like home. <3