World Wildlife Fund

Join WWF’s Cathy Plume for an insider account of how WWF is conserving this place. Meet local people whose eco-businesses are the hope of this desert. Experience nighttime border crossings, a day on horseback and the culture of the Southwest. Learn what WWF and partners are doing to keep water flowing through the Rio Grande – while also meeting the needs of the five million people who call this desert home. 

Part 1: Arrival in Chihuahua | Part 2: Goals and Ghouls | Part 3: Thirsty Rivers | Part 4: Hermelinda's Story | Part 5: Señor Vallina's Vision | Part 6: Bighorn Sightings | Part 7: Starry Night | Part 8: Coffee and Congress | Part 9: Re-thinking Water | Part 10: Conserving Together

Part 9: Re-thinking Water

Photo of Robert Faubion (second from left) with the WWF team.
© WWF

We’re off today to visit the Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID) just outside of Las Cruces. Since water is so scarce here, both ground and surface water are regulated.  The EBID controls surface water over some 90,000 acres and provides water delivery to approximately 8,000 members.  To date, all of the water has been allocated for agricultural uses, but WWF is working to change this.   

As we drive along the country roads, we see fields full of cabbage ready for harvest.  We’re told that with the shortage of labor due to increased enforcement of immigration laws, it’s very likely that this crop will just be plowed under.  This is happening a lot these days.  We also learn that the cabbage grown here is shipped out to California – while trucks full of cabbage, lettuce and other produce are coming in from California.  It seems like we could do a lot to reduce the U.S. carbon footprint by just putting some computers to work.

Photo of the Rio Grande south of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Because of water diversions, the river’s volume is greatly reduced.
© WWF/Cathy Plume

Staff from the Las Cruces office have promised us a view of the Rio Grande today.  We’ve been seeing what we think is a tributary to it – a waterway about 50 feet across – for miles.  Then, we learn that this is in fact the mighty Rio Grande! It’s a real misnomer…and a bit sad.

We meet with Robert Faubion, a local cotton farmer.  His family has farmed in this area for three generations and he’s surprised to hear that we’re at his farm to talk about water. When we tell him that we’re interested in getting water set aside for the environment, he tells us that would be easy – we just need to buy up rights like every other farmer out here.  We agree with him, but need to come up with a way to raise money to purchase the water every year – just like the farmers.  Our challenge is that we don’t have a crop to sell to help us buy water rights. 

An example of inefficient flood irrigation used in a pecan plantation, with an alfalfa crop growing behind. Water mismanagement is a major threat to the Chihuahuan Desert.
© Edward PARKER / WWF-Canon

Mr. Faubion makes no bones about not being completely happy with the way the irrigation district is managed.  He’s also sorry that he didn’t plant pecans like the rest of his neighbors did about 30 years ago, but notes that this cash crop uses a lot of water. 

Part 1: Arrival in Chihuahua | Part 2: Goals and Ghouls | Part 3: Thirsty Rivers | Part 4: Hermelinda's Story | Part 5: Señor Vallina's Vision | Part 6: Bighorn Sightings | Part 7: Starry Night | Part 8: Coffee and Congress | Part 9: Re-thinking Water | Part 10: Conserving Together