José A. Rivera is a professor of planning at the University of New Mexico and is a research scholar at the Center for Regional Studies. His research interests include water management institutions and the culture of water in comparative regions of the world. His publications include Acequia Culture: Water, Land, and Community in the Southwest, and a co-authored book, Rural Environmental Planning for Sustainable Communities. He has served as an expert witness in water rights transfer applications in the State of New Mexico centered on the social, cultural and ecological impacts of the proposed changes in point of diversion and purpose of use.