Part One: Living on the knife’s edge, even at the source of the Rio Grande

RIO GRANDE RESERVOIR, Colo.— Farmer Kyler Brown in front of a small dam on the Rio Grande at a farm outside of Monte Vista, Colorado. “I’ve ranched. I’ve cowboyed. Now I’m farming and ranching,” Brown said. “You quickly learn in the West how important water is.” (Photo By Diana Cervantes for Source NM).

The river pools into the Rio Grande Reservoir at the base of the San Juan Mountains, fed mostly by snowmelt. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)

An old train depot captured June 22, 2022 outside of La Jara, Colorado. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)

A drip sprinkler system feeds barley in a farm at Monte Vista. Most drip irrigation uses groundwater, a shrinking resource in the San Luis Valley. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)

Even as the valley had record-breaking monsoon rainfall in 2022, it isn’t enough to recharge the aquifers, which face decades of pumping more water than is sinking in. (Photo by Diana Cervantes for Source NM)