Acequias in New Mexico

Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times

Peggy Boney stands above the gate to the acequia -- earthen irrigation canal -- on her farm in New Mexico's Mora County. Engineered to use gravity and the natural contours of the land, the acequias feed arterial channels, which spread out like capillaries in the fields.

Peggy Boney stands above the gate to the acequia -- earthen irrigation canal -- on her farm in New Mexico's Mora County. Engineered to use gravity and the natural contours of the land, the acequias feed arterial channels, which spread out like capillaries in the fields. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times)

Although reluctant, Peggy Boney agreed to try drip irrigation on a small plot of land. It's the first time such irrigation is being considered for wide use in the county.

Although reluctant, Peggy Boney agreed to try drip irrigation on a small plot of land. It's the first time such irrigation is being considered for wide use in the county. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times)

Communal watercourses called acequias, some of which date to the 1600s, connect people in New Mexico to their land, neighbors and Spanish ancestors. But as drought dries up these waterways, farmers are considering more efficient irrigation.