Here in Burnt Corn Valley, we are located in the middle of the Navajo Reservation’s vast Black Mesa region, where the hills are both thirsty for water and exposed to its cruelties. Arizona’s sandy soil cracks under the harsh August sun, and red-striped cicadas seek moisture from the baked surface. Cottonwood and sagebrush trees rise from deep canyons carved by floodwaters as summer monsoons intensify, submerging surrounding mesas and washing away fragile topsoil. This is a reminder that with climate change, even the steadying of rain has the power of destruction.
But this depiction of climate change belies a more benign reality. Agriculture once thrived in this arid region, and with the right practices it could be possible again. Exhibit A: Crops from Roberto Narui’s 12-acre Sliding Rock Farm. It’s in his reservation hometown of Piñon, a five-hour drive north of Phoenix. “The corn is actually quite large and growing well,” says Narui. He believes the traditional rock-and-stick structures built on his property, which help store water and prevent erosion, have a lot to do with it, and that Western science and indigenous elders have Both lived experiences bear this out. These structures, similar to those used by indigenous peoples long before Europeans arrived on the continent, not only provided water for crops (the larger 27,000 square mile reservation (reported to have the highest rate of food insecurity in the United States). They are also restoring the Nurui watershed and its neighboring watersheds, sequestering carbon and restoring this high desert ecosystem. This is all part of a larger effort by various local and regional grassroots organizations to rebuild the reservation’s fragile and depleted ecosystems and give communities greater sovereignty over their food, water, and health. .
People living in arid regions have long used structures made from naturally occurring materials to secure water for their crops.
The Diné (Navajo’s own name) are well aware that climate change is making their climate semi-arid. plateau Stranger, wilder, more destructive. Depending on elevation, Black Mesa receives an average of 6 to 16 inches of precipitation per year. Recent Heatwave — Navajo Nation Government declared A state of emergency will be declared in 2023 due to rising temperatures, which means scarce water will evaporate faster. climate model The region is expected to see an increase in droughts that deplete plant life, as part of an increasing anthropogenic trend. desertification More intense seasonal rainfall occurs around the world, which can wash away crops and roads. The ecological health of reservations is also weakened by factors such as: deforestation From lumber work, and overgrazing Over the years.
Still, this season, Nurui, 44, no longer has to make the usual two-hour drive round trip to his reliable well to bring water home to grow his corn. His land still has water from last winter’s snowmelt, so his crops are healthy and hydrated. Clearly, his hard work over the past 20 years has meant that during that time he has woven brush dams, gabions (wire cages filled with rocks), earthen berms, concrete spillways and ditches, limestone aprons and walls, and They built a “Zuni bowl” lined with stones. The “effect” is appearing in stabilizing the eroding riverbed.
Roberto Narui.
Roberto Narui
Diné and other people living in arid regions around the world use naturally occurring materials to capture and manage water for growing crops and reduce flood damage in ephemeral river systems. We have been using these structures for a long time. Various Puebloan peoples, including the Zuni and Hohokam, also used similar devices, as did the Aztecs. arab people and tribes India Stone water diversions have been incorporated for thousands of years. “[M]Traditional indigenous communities are not passive observers of nature. ” I will write Lila June Johnston, Diné anthropologist and community organizer. Rather, they are “influential facilitators of landscape-scale enrichment, rooted in an ethic of kinship and respect.”
Laura Norman, a researcher at the U.S. Geological Survey, said that when these structures, which Norman calls natural riverine dryland infrastructure (NIDS), are installed in canyons, water flow can be reduced. We’ve seen evidence over the past 15 years that it slows down. Collects nutrient-rich sediment and plant debris that mitigates erosion, nourishes both crops and wild plants, helps store carbon, improves groundwater recharge, and maximizes downstream water availability I will increase it as much as possible. 28 percent. “It’s a snowball effect that counters degradation, and you get all of these ecosystem services,” she says.
The structures on Nalui’s farm are essential cogs in the larger system of floodplain agriculture. It works like this: The property of Nutlouis is alluvial fanMineral-rich sediments and plant waste on the tops of mesas and other uplands flow down to flat ground along with rainwater, snowmelt, and spring water. Similar farms across the valley rely on this type of system, many featuring stone and stick structures that Narui helped build. Jonathan Sander, professor emeritus of agronomy at Iowa State University, says organic matter trapped behind structures “plays a huge role in maintaining soil fertility.” Small basins like this are perfect. “These gentle slopes and small watersheds allow runoff, but reduce the likelihood of high runoff velocities that can damage crops,” Sander explained in the paper. 2008 paper.
“Even a small monolithic dam can make a huge difference to the landscape,” the expert says.
NIDS sprays water over a large area, slowing the flow of water so that it can better penetrate the soil. I will make it possible. Many trap sediment behind them and fertilize what grows nearby. Stone structures create hyper-local spaces cooling effectespecially when combined with shade-producing plants.
Again, small size is an advantage. “Even a small monolithic dam can make a huge difference to the landscape,” Norman says. Up to 5 kilometers downstream from such structures, “increasing vegetation despite drought has been recorded and documented. [increased vegetation] This indicates that water is available up to 1 km upstream. ” In this way, alluvial farms and their NIDS can support both sown and wild plants.
“Moisture obtained from winter precipitation is critical for corn germination and growth. Monsoon rains are critical for finishing corn, pumpkin and melon harvests,” Natlui says. In reality, he admits, this can look chaotic, with cornfields flooded up to the ears before the water trickles onto the next field.
Workers build rock aprons to slow the flow of river water and erosion of the trunk.
Roberto Narui
But recently, climate change has posed additional challenges to the reservation. “Severe soil moisture deficits are causing major changes in the ecosystem,” Natlui said. Much of Black Mesa’s pinyon forest has declined after 20 years of drought, he says. Historically, the Diné have foraged pinyon pine nuts. They are an important element of food sovereignty on the reservation, and their loss is keenly felt.
But the ecosystem services provided by structures at Narui’s farms and elsewhere do seem to be solving those climate challenges. He noticed that despite the dryness, small juniper trees were growing on the hillsides surrounding the property. The cottonwood trees that tower over the cornfields are also lush and lush. After NIDS began its mission, “my observation was that the Earth would heal itself by natural seed dispersal,” Norman said. Or, as Nat Rui says, “We are allowing nature to do its thing and recover.”
Still, Natlui intends to support the process. his nonprofit Nibikiya (loosely translated as Collective Ecological Footprint) works with a variety of local and regional grassroots groups working on food, water, and justice issues. Tolani Lake Enterprises, Indigenous Development Institute,and Ten Tribes Partnership. dinner careAnother group of allies, environmental justice groups, are advocating for community health and land rights across the reservation, as well as cleaning up rivers and aquifers polluted by coal and uranium. “We especially want to support a lot of renewable projects with solar and wind. We also want to support agriculture, because having a robust food system is important for local farmers. It’s a source of income,” said Executive Director Robin Jackson. “It also helps continue our cultural traditions.”
“We understand that watershed restoration is key to the future of agriculture,” Navajo activists say.
Nihikiya also works closely with water rights organizations. To Nizuni Animembers are collecting native plant seeds to restore riparian habitat throughout Black Mesa. Some indigenous plants, such as goji, are edible and can also help improve food sovereignty and security. “We know that watershed restoration is key to continuing agriculture into the future,” he says. To Nizuni Ani Executive Director Nicole Horshelder.
Nurui is building a seed bank to house strains of pinyon, juniper, willow, goji shrub, trefoil sumac, and rabbitbrush. Introducing these plants back into the landscape will help keep the ground moist and reduce erosion.
Nutlouis is working on a master’s degree in sustainable communities at Northern Arizona University, studying the Western science of quantifying and quantifying the benefits of traditional practices. But he is also adamant that successful watershed restoration is predicated on reforging. ancestral kinship It’s about returning land-use decision-making power to clan mothers, who have traditionally been Diné leaders in this area. To that end, he met with neighbors one after another in the Burnt Corn Valley’s small watersheds to learn how to improve the health of their land, such as growing corn and making sure roads don’t get damaged when it rains. We’ve been talking about it. So far, Narui has helped rehabilitate 56 fields across the valley, and there are countless NIDS.
Roberto Narui’s farm.
Roberto Narui
“If I could meet this whole family, [in the valley]Show them the aerial maps… and they can come up with a development plan for each watershed,” he says. “Then we can use that as a template for how we organize with communities in the next watershed.” Improving multiple small watersheds like this can help the region’s climate cool. , Norman says, could increase the amount of water available to everyone. At one of her NIDS research sites, water availability was extended from three to four months. “You can imagine how important that is for drylands,” she says.
“We’ve been doing this type of farming since before the Europeans came. That’s what our ancestors were known for,” Narui says. “The work we do is to reflect on the wisdom of our ancestors, reclaim and re-revise knowledge, decolonize and re-indigenize,” he continues. “Ecosystems need to be restored. Food systems need to be restored. This is an opportunity to start developing a local food economy. There’s a lot of potential there, but we need to restore it. We have to do it right.”
