New Mexico Acequia Association

“Membership consists of a federation of regional delegations that come from two types of regions in new mexico: type 1 - has an established regional acequia association that name delegates who remain in place until the regional acequia association names new delegates. Type 2 - does not have an established regional acequia association but are recognized for purposes of representation whose term is one year. Both types represent the nmaa as members of the congreso de las acequias.”

“The members described in question 6, members of the congreso de las acequi as, meet minimally for an annual board meeting to pass resolutions, approv e bylaw changes, and elect the executive board.”

“The members of the congreso de las acequias meet minimally for an annual b oard meeting to pass resolutions, approve bylaw changes, and elect the exe cutive board.”

“A special meeting of the board of directors is called by the chair. The report is reviewed by the full board of directors and may be approved by a majority vote for submittal to the irs.”

“Updated conflict of interest documents are obtained annually, any material changes in the circumstances are required to be disclosed promptly throug h an amended disclosure statement, and at each meeting of the board of dir ectors, there is a review of recent disclosures for board consideration.”

“As part of the performance evaluation process by the board of directors, m embers of the board researched and provided data on executive director com pensation for similar non-profit organizations.”

“Governing documents, policies and financial information are available upon request at the organizations office location. The documents are also available on the nm secretary's of state's website.”

“Program service accomplishments (continued) in our work, we continued to build resiliency in our community with programs on water governance, community and youth education on acequias, farmer training, and policy advocacy. We adjusted our programs to address public health protections related to covid-19 by conducting much of our work through online platforms and by adhering to public health mandates related to limits on meeting size, social distancing, and other protective measures. Overall, we learned from our experiences, our members, and our partners that the global pandemic has highlighted the importance of our work to strengthen local food production and protections for water resources and farmland. In addition to the challenges related to the pandemic, new mexico experienced one of the worst droughts on record, which required that acequias increase their efforts to equitably share scarce water supplies in their respective communities. Both the pandemic and the drought had implications for our work in 2020. Our primary body of work in 2020, like in past years, was to work directly with local acequias in supporting their role in local water management and acequia governance. In addition to providing direct technical assistance to hundreds of acequias, doing grassroots policy advocacy, and providing educational opportunities for community and youth, some of our work is also responsive to the unique conditions in 2020 related to pandemic and drought. The following highlights exemplify the intersection of community, culture, water, and food, and provide examples for how 2020 was a historic and unique year. -- respeto y repartimiento: this summer gathering was part of a series of events to uplift the cultural tradition of water sharing in the acequias of new mexico. The event highlighted nm poet laureate levi romero and long- time acequia leader, gilbert sandoval, in a discussion about the cultural roots of water sharing through art, music, oral history, and testimony based on experience. -- declaration on water, food, and youth: as part of our annual congreso de las acequias (membership meeting), we engaged three groups of community leaders to develop value statements around water, food, and youth that are being used to guide programming on adapting to climate change, strengthening local food systems, and engaging youth in leadership development. -- vamos a sembrar (let's grow): because of public health restrictions related to covid-19, we had to quickly transition much of our educational programming to an online format. The result was a series of online workshops on traditional gardening and irrigation methods. The goal was to encourage more people to grow food and to provide vital skills on soils, seeds, cultivation, irrigation, as well as food-safe handling and food preservation. In addition to the above events, which were unique to 2020, nmaa organized several annual events including the following: -- acequia day at the nm state legislature. On january 29, 2020, nmaa hosted a mobilization of over 200 acequia leaders and youth from across the state for a march at the state capitol. The march helped to bring attention to the imperative of including equity in new mexico water policy, including concerns with water transfers/water leases and the need for investment in acequia infrastructure and local food systems. -- congreso de las acequias. On december 12, 2020, nmaa held its annual meeting, a rich and engaging gathering featuring an annual report, youth updates, art and music, and decisions on policy positions that guide the strategic direction of the nmaa in the upcoming year. The event was held online and was attended by 170 people. Overview of accomplishments for water, agriculture, and youth nmaa's key program areas are aligned with our mission to protect water and acequias, to grow healthy food for our communities, and to honor our cultural heritage. Because nmaa represents rural communities, many of whom are low-incom”

“Project outreach legal 167,696 0 0 project outreadh consulting 20,088 0 0 total 187,784 0 0”