CURRENT PROGRAM AREAS
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SMALL DIRECT-TO-PRODUCER GRANTS. Our current program focuses on women led cooperatives and food autonomy projects. We also provide small grants of up to $2000 to support native food sovereignty conferences, symposia, and lectures since indigenous knowledge production is vital to healthy native foodways.
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EDWIN SANCHEZ MEMORIAL ACEQUIA FELLOWS. Edwin Sanchez was our friend and colleague and a skilled and dedicated acequia farmer and compuerta builder. He passed away suddenly at the tender age of 19 and we named this graduate research fellowship in his honor. This program provides seed money to graduate students conducting research on acequia agroecology, food sovereignty, environmental justice movements, and related fields. Projects must be grounded in decolonial methods and a commitment to the research ethics of relational solidarity.
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JOSEPH C. GALLEGOS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND. Joseph C. Gallegos was a founding Board Member of The Acequia Institute. He passed away in December 2016 and we established this scholarship program at the invitation of his family. The annual $500-750 award provides tuition assistance to undergraduate students with familial ties to acequia farm communities.
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ACEQUIA AGROECOLOGICAL RESEARCH STATION, EXTENSION SERVICE, & FARM SCHOOL. Almunyah de las Dos Acequias serves as an agroecological research station focused on acequia flood irrigated methods, conservation of local heirloom crop varieties of corn, bean, and squash, and experiments in soil biodynamics and permaculture applications derived from indigenous place-based knowledge.
The Culebra River winds through the Almunyah de las Dos Acequias. After ten years of intensive management, the riparian ecosystem is healing with the return of native juvenile cottonwoods, alders, and willows. Native wild medicinal and edible plants like rose hips, yarrow, osha (Porter's Lovage), and elderberry are also returning.
