Water Conservation

Rows of chard at Mortimer Farms. Notice the drip irrigation. Photo by Dana Benner

By Dana Benner

There is no doubt that our environment is changing. The entire country is experiencing unpredictable weather, with drought being a real possibility in areas not prone to such conditions.

Currently, where I live in New Hampshire, we are in the middle of a drought, despite the amount of snow sitting on the ground. Last year( 2025) was the state’ s most severe drought season ever recorded. The way things are going, it is not going to get better soon.

Last year’ s record heat left many wells dry and fields unplantable. Those who did manage to get crops in lost most of them. The question here is,“ What can we do?” That is what I will focus on in this article.

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While I am not a commercial grower, I do have gardens that produce food for my family and friends. As others have, I have watched the fruits of my labor shrivel on the vine this past year and wondered what I could do about it. It is hard to watch your crops die and your well run dry while at the same time there seems to be enough water for people to keep their lawns perfectly green and their cars washed. There has to be a way to move forward.

About 10 years ago, I visited Mortimer Farms in Dewey, Arizona, not too far from Prescott and Sedona. The farm encompasses 324 acres along the banks of the Agua Fria River, where they grow a variety of crops in a less-than-forgiving area.

Dewey, Arizona, is considered to be a high desert. That means they get all of their rain at one time of the year. Everything revolves around water storage and water retention. New Hampshire was experiencing a“ rare” drought, and I

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