Horses can’t poop in a source of drinking water for
25 homes in Lama, N.M. The Taos County court recently found Dr.
John Wilson and his wife Barbara guilty of allowing their horses to
pollute the El Rito de Lama Acequia, reports The Taos News. For
more than 200 years, the acequias – irrigation ditches – of
northern New Mexico have carried water from the Sangre de Cristo
mountains to the dry lowlands. Because members of the association
that manages the Lama acequia rely on the ditch for drinking water,
the group sued the Wilsons last March. “There was an overwhelming
amount of manure beside the ditch,” says association member Bob
Aldo. “I counted 75 piles along the banks and near Wilsons’ hay
barn.” They are the largest landowners that use the ditch water,
and the couple owns a majority of water shares. Nevertheless, the
court ordered the Wilsons to move their fences and corrals at least
150 feet away from the ditch. The acequia association went to court
after the Wilsons balked at similar recommendations by the New
Mexico Department of the Environment. Lama, near Questa, is the
only New Mexico town in which many residents have an official right
to use water for domestic as well as agricultural purposes. The
Wilsons are appealing the court
decision.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Horses must back off.
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