On a sunny November day in Taos, acequia leaders from across the state gathered for the annual Congreso de las Acequias. The theme was “El Agua No Se Vende: Se Ama y Se Defiende,” (The water is not for sale; we must defend it). Acequias honored decades of grassroots organizing to protect local acequia waters from being sold and transferred separate from land and community.

As is customary, the Congreso was centered around the Bendición de las Aguas, a water blessing, to honor the sacredness of water, with everyone invited to share water from their respective places, culminating in a blessing by local keepers of tradition. The two days are steeped in a cultural worldview with ceremony, music, art and theater to remind us of our role as caretakers of the water. The gathering was also a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the passage of legislation in 2003 amending the New Mexico Water Code in response to the threat of the commodification of water.