Alexander or Sam Fernald is an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences at New Mexico State University and Director of the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute (NM WRRI). His primary research interests include water quality hydrology; land use effects on infiltration, runoff, sediment yield, and nonpoint source pollution; and effects of surface water/groundwater exchange on water availability and water quality. Fernald has received Fulbright Scholarships to Patagonian National University, Trelew, Argentina the University of Concepcion, Concepcion, Chile. He has authored and coauthored numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and technical reports. He leads the multi-institutional, five year, $1.4 million water research project funded by the National Science Foundation, entitled Acequia Water Systems Linking Culture and Nature: Integrated Analysis of Community Resilience to Climate and Land Use Changes, that provides the basis for the present Symposium.