Ecosystem services of traditional irrigation systems in northern New Mexico, USA

Abstract

Ecosystem services provided by community irrigation systems known as ‘acequias’ include extending the area of green space between such acequias and streams. The traditional gravity flow irrigation methods of these systems remain intact and notably, they enhance vegetative cover and diversity, support wildlife habitat, recharge shallow aquifers, sequester carbon, improve air and water quality, retain storm-water flow, and control flooding. They also provide nutrient cycling and soil formation, ecotourism and environmental education, extension of the irrigation season, and aesthetic enrichment in ecological landscape diversity. We developed a rating system for evaluating the relative extent of ecosystem services provided by acequias through a combination of GIS and field methods to determine riparian health. The rating system evaluated 16 ecosystem services on a scale from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’ for two acequias on the Rio Hondo in Taos County, New Mexico, USA. The evaluation data provide scientific support for the protection of traditional irrigation as an important cultural and ecosystem landscape of value to the broader society, including benefits of rural development, cultural tourism, enhancement of environmental amenities, and local food security of small-scale agriculture.