Using the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework to analyze the acequias of El Río de las Gallinas, New Mexico

•Ongoing distrust between irrigators and state/municipal agencies can be explained by many variables.•Differences in dominant property rights regimes play a role in the ongoing distrust between irrigators and state/municipal agencies.•Perceptions of unfair offers for water rights, accurate or not, reinforce this distrust.•Negotiations on the Gallinas require detailed understanding of how the irrigating community sees the issues.•Durable sharing agreements are unlikely without this understanding.

As population and economic growth increase urban water demands, and traditional irrigation plays a smaller role in direct subsistence in New Mexico, irrigators on small, traditional systems often feel threatened. This paper uses the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to analyze the irrigation ditches of the Gallinas River, in San Miguel County, and aims to facilitate understanding of the persistent distrust some Gallinas irrigators feel toward city, state, and federal agencies. This distrust, sometimes due to a perception of differing property rights structures that result in what many irrigators feel is unfair treatment by various agencies, and sometimes to a simple lack of understanding, is often perpetuated by recounted stories of malfeasance. Degree of social capital, knowledge of water law, and technology vary greatly. While there are not many problems with outsiders, some of the larger ditches report very poor social capital.