Documenting Western water rituals
Spring-cleaning the acequia: A photo essay
It's almost summer, and that means the irrigation floodgates are open wide, bringing water to the crops of the West. But before water can flow, ditches need tending.
 
High Country News intern Sierra Crane-Murdoch and documentary photographer Sharon Stewart go behind the scenes of a centuries-old New Mexican water tradition -- the annual cleaning of the acequia, the communal irrigation ditch system. In North America, such ditches date back to the Spanish occupation of the Southwest, but the cooperative care of water systems has a longstanding history in both indigenous and European society, says Stewart.
 
Read an interview with Sharon Stewart, and learn more about the town of El Cerrito's traditional limpia, or community maintenance of its acequia, at HCN.org

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Documenting Western water rituals
Spring-cleaning the acequia: A photo essay
It's almost summer, and that means the irrigation floodgates are open wide, bringing water to the crops of the West. But before water can flow, ditches need tending.
 
High Country News intern Sierra Crane-Murdoch and documentary photographer Sharon Stewart go behind the scenes of a centuries-old New Mexican water tradition -- the annual cleaning of the acequia, the communal irrigation ditch system. In North America, such ditches date back to the Spanish occupation of the Southwest, but the cooperative care of water systems has a longstanding history in both indigenous and European society, says Stewart.
 
Read an interview with Sharon Stewart, and learn more about the town of El Cerrito's traditional limpia, or community maintenance of its acequia, at HCN.org

FEATURES

Western papers drop D.C. reporters   Western papers drop D.C. reporters As more newspapers withdraw reporters from Washington, D.C., Westerners wonder who's keeping an eye on the capital.    Fire fight: Forest Service explores chemical retardant hazards   Fire fight: Forest Service explores chemical retardant hazards The Forest Service finally assesses the impacts of fire retardant chemicals, but never answers the question of how useful they really are.  Subscribers only   View the latest issue » Blocked image RSS »

WRITERS ON THE RANGE

Monster wildfires have become the new normal   Monster wildfires have become the new normal Wildfires cannot be entirely prevented by logging or anything else, but small-scale prescribed burns can help make them less destructive.  Subscribers only   Princess for a Day   Princess for a Day An Oregon nonprofit allows young girls from troubled homes to become a Princess for a Day.     The revolution will be motorized   The revolution will be motorized The road rage over federal attempts to manage motorized access to public land is disproportionate and completely distracting.