Project aims to save ditches in N. Valley.

By Carolyn Carlson, Albuquerque Journal, N.M. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Feb. 7--ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- North Valley residents hope a new project will protect one of their most prized pastimes -- walking along the ditches.

In October, the North Valley Coalition received an assistance grant from the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program to do just that.

Last summer, the coalition applied to the Park Service for an assistance grant, which does not contain any money. In the grant proposal for the Acequia Preservation Project, coalition members said they wanted to be able to preserve the North Valley's …