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The Acequia Assistance Project is entering its 14^th year of providing pro bono legal services to the acequia community in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Each year the project accepts new cases – ranging from helping acequia members write or amend their ditches bylaws, file articles of incorporation, or prove their water rights – and first year law students take on the challenge, and opportunity, of engaging in meaningful legal work, under supervision of a supervising attorney. For 2025-2026, the project is once again a Tier 3 grant recipient from the office of Public and Community Engaged Scholarship (PACES). These funds will support student trips to engage with their clients and the community, student events that offer professional development and community building, and legal fees associated with the project. Student apply to the project in September, and most teams begin project work with their clients in early January. The keystone of the project’s engagement with the acequia community is the annual Congreso de Acequias,��hosted by the Sangre de Cristo Acequia Association and Colorado Open Lands. Each year the project brings between 15 and 30 students down to this event to represent the project, connect in person with clients, and do outreach for new cases. For most students, this is the most meaningful element of their time in the in the acequia project.

Last March, in conjunction with their trip to Congreso, Andrew Nosler and Gabrielle Cooper had the opportunity to attend the annual shareholder meeting of the ditch they are representing. Read more about their experience in the project, and connecting with the community below:

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As part of the CU Law Acequia Assistance Project, our team is working to develop and update the Bylaws for Canon Ditch No. 22, located near Antonito, Colorado. Acequias are community operated irrigation ditches. The practice was brought to Spain by the Moors and to Colorado by Spanish and Mexican farmers who settled here before Colorado became a state. The Acequia Assistance Project aims to provide no-cost legal assistance to Acequia users in the San Luis Valley.

We recently paid a wonderful visit to Colorado’s San Luis Valley for the annual Congreso meeting. There, Acequia users from across the valley gathered to discuss and showcase the state of water management in the valley. Farmers and ranchers brought exhibits and presentations to share their unique strategies for land and water use. We watched people make fungus-based fertilizer in real time, explored a model electric fencing construction, and even learned��about harvesting wild plants. These presentations showcased a future of abundance and sustainability. Locals in the valley are working hard for the future of their land and water. They are creative, industrious, and deeply connected to the community.

Colorado water rights are “first in time, first in right.” This means that the first person to appropriate water and use it has a priority water right over later users. The Acequias in the San Luis Valley are some of the oldest water rights in the state. On a tour of San Luis People’s Ditch, water right No. 1 in Colorado, we learned a slice of the vibrant history that defines the valley. Jerry Gallegos, a People’s Ditch irrigator brought us to different points along the ditch and his ranching property, so we could see for ourselves how the ditch works and the products of irrigation. We visited the stream that provides People’s Ditch with water, Culebra Creek. Alongside a group of cows (and adorable newborn calves) cold, clean water flowed fresh off the southern end of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range. At a diversion point, called a headgate, the ditch starts and pulls a modest flow of water from the stream. It has spread water to community members for any imaginable number of uses since 1852. Walking along the ditch, it was easy to get lost imagining the generations of community members who have loved and cared for this water.

Because many of the Acequias in the San Luis Valley were established before, or early on, in Colorado’s statehood, they hold some of the highest priority water rights in the state under the first in time, first in right rule.�� The Colorado Acequia Recognition Law allows acequias to continue operating under their traditional communal water sharing systems and strengthens their ability to protect their water rights under Colorado law. The Acequia Assistance Project aims to assist farmers in the Valley to take full advantage of these protections, so that their water rights are protected into the future, especially as the likelihood of water scarcity rises. �鶹��Ժ participating in the project work on a variety of projects for clients: title searches, assisting with articles of incorporation, community outreach and engagement, and drafting bylaws for ditch operations. Participating in the project has been a valuable opportunity to connect not only with people in the Valley, but also with other law students passionate about water law and equitable access to legal services.

Our team had the opportunity to attend the annual shareholders meeting for our ditch, Canon Ditch No. 22. Canon Ditch No. 22 flows near Antonito, which is southwest from San Luis. The shareholders were excited for the upcoming spring, summer, and fall. With winter slowly fading, everyone was ready to get the ditch up and running. Shareholders got down to business as soon as they formed a quorum. They voted to appoint a ditch rider, who would monitor and report on the condition of the ditch as water started flowing. They discussed transferred shares, and protocols for delinquent water users. Every discussion was open, and solution oriented. Canon Ditch draws from the Conejos River, which comes out of the San Juan Mountains. With below average snowpack, the members focused on late season conditions and how to plan around unpredictable flow rates this season.

Both at Congreso and the Canon Ditch shareholders meeting, we saw inspiring people tackling important water issues hands-on. Everybody we met had a deep connection with the land and the community. Ranchers talked about repurposing old bed frames to install electric fences and using old wheels to wind rope. Student speakers from the Acequia Assistance Project presented updates to our project and the legal services we provide. In every corner of the valley, people are working hard to secure and improve the future of agriculture. Canon Ditch No. 22 members were excited to have us down there. They explained how we can be useful and welcomed us into their conversations. It is such an amazing opportunity to serve such brilliant and hardworking people, and we look forward to helping the cause of farmers and ranchers in the San Luis Valley.��