The irrigation system in San Miguel Enyege, Ixtlahuaca, State of Mexico

Abstract

To manage water for irrigation, rural communities have their own organizational strategies to control theresource. Small irrigation systems in Mexico are important because they show the particular characteristicsof local organization. The community of San Miguel Enyege, municipality of Ixtlahuaca, State of Mexico, has aparticular form of irrigation organization represented by authorities known as water judges and mayordomos, the latter of which are related to the festivity of the Virgin of Guadalupe. In this context, this study was carried out using a qualitative approach based on the ethnographic method related to the irrigation system. In this community, local authorities and water judges manage and control the La Cruz spring, and they are the ones who select the mayordomos to carry out the festivity of the Virgin of Guadalupe.