Insight Episode #47: Nejem Raheem on water rights in the New Mexico acequias

This insight episode comes from full episode eighty-one with Nejem Raheem.

Nejem is an associate professor of economics at Emerson College, where he focuses on the economics of natural resource and environmental issues.

Nejem speaks with Michael about the similarities between his childhood experiences in Bangladesh and Nepal and the New Mexico acequias. The two discuss their work on the acequias and the complexity of the systems based upon western codifications of water rights and the subsequent valuation given to water in the US, and how this lacks a complete valuation of the social importance of water in the acequias.

Nejem's website: https://www.emerson.edu/faculty-staff-directory/nejem-raheem

References:

Raheem, N., S. Archambault, E. Arellano, M. Gonzales, D. Kopp, J. Rivera, S. Guldan, et al. 2015. “A Framework for Assessing Ecosystem Services in Acequia Irrigation Communities of the Upper Río Grande Watershed.” WIREs. Water 2 (5): 559–75. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1091.