By John Orr
First Congreso de Acequias
The oldest water right appropriation date in Colorado (April 10, 1852) belongs to the San Luis People’s Ditch on Culebra Creek on the western slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the San Luis Valley. The ditch is a historical artifact from the colonial days of the Spanish Empire.
Gravity-fed irrigation systems were introduced to Spain by the Moors during their occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. Spain’s colonialists brought the technology and concepts of Acequia culture with them as they set up shop in the western hemisphere. Acequias were established in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado as the Spanish, and then Mexicans, settled the Rio Grande Valley.