The Mexicali and Imperial Valleys, both belonging to the vast, attenuated (and now bisected) historical flood plain of the Colorado River, are two of the most intensively productive agricultural regions in Mexico and the United States. This would never have been were it not for the vision and hubris that rerouted the Colorado River into this desert some one hundred years ago. The canal dug to irrigate the region has since been bifurcated, litigated, and most recently lined with concrete—all with the outcome of reducing the Mexicali Valley’s historical access to water. This video serves as a reminder that these two valleys remain—despite the managerialist imperatives that divide them—very much one cultural, environmental, and hydrological entity. (2009, running time: 10 minutes.)
(A suitably nerdy description for it.)