海角大神

In the right light, Jeff Dollente seems to make the sun rise. Standing over a canal, he cranks a wheel as the sun ascends and the sky yawns off the dark.听

Mr. Dollente doesn鈥檛 deliver the morning, but in southeastern California鈥檚 Imperial Valley, his job is just as big. He delivers Colorado River water 鈥撎齛 vital resource at risk 鈥� to farms that feed the rest of the United States.

He鈥檚 a 鈥渮anjero,鈥� Spanish for ditch rider, for the Imperial Irrigation District, the area鈥檚 public-water and energy agency. California is entitled to the largest share of Colorado River water among seven basin states, and within that, the agency has the single largest entitlement, almost all of which goes to agriculture. Upping the ante: The river is the Imperial Irrigation District鈥檚 only water source.听

The crisis on the Colorado River, strained by overuse and the effects of climate change, is unlikely to reverse due to recent heavy rain and snow, experts say. While critical lows along the river threaten water supplies and hydropower, California hasn鈥檛 agreed with other states this year on who should conserve how much 鈥撎齮hough the Imperial Valley is a controversial target of calls for cuts.

As听the federal government prepares to听weigh in听and听high-level talks continue, so do zanjero daily duties on the ground. It takes focus and precision to safeguard each drop of liquid gold.

鈥淲e hear about it every day,鈥� says Mr. Dollente, referring to the Colorado River. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we鈥檙e here for 鈥� trying to save the water.鈥�听

鈥淟ike a milkman鈥�

Mr. Dollente reports for duty in the 鈥淐arrot Capital of the World,鈥� also known as Holtville. He鈥檚 low-key but loyal to his work, arriving for an interview with two pages of typed notes.

At a division office, he鈥檚 greeted with a daily run sheet outlining his deliveries. In jeans and plaid shirt, the zanjero wears shades on the brim of his baseball cap. It鈥檚 dark outside 鈥撎齨ot yet 6 a.m. 鈥� but by the end of his eight-hour shift, the February sun will burn bright. Warmer months bring triple-digit heat.

鈥淟ive down here, you get used to it,鈥� says the Holtville local, who joined the district out of high school in 1985.听

The Imperial Irrigation District is entitled to 3.1 million acre-feet of Colorado River water a year, though it uses less. (In 2021, for example, the district reports conserving 485,709 acre-feet.) The district also has among the most senior water rights on the river; junior water rights holders are generally expected to take cuts first. Imperial Valley growers 鈥撎齮outing their efforts in farm-based conservation 鈥� are trying to hold on to a water-intensive farming tradition that鈥檚 more than a century old.

Greening nearly half a million acres of farmland flanked by desert, the district gets its Colorado River water from the Imperial Dam on the California-Arizona border. The water nourishes alfalfa, winter vegetables, and other crops to the west 鈥� passing through some 3,000 miles of canals and drains 鈥� and then runs off into the Salton Sea. Robert Schettler, public information officer, calls it a daily miracle.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a tremendous amount of coordination,鈥� says Mr. Schettler.

It鈥檚 a high-stakes relay race. From the Imperial Dam, water flows into the major All-American Canal, which feeds into three main canals, and then is directed into a series of lateral canals. Zanjeros 鈥撎齱ho oversee the lateral canals 24/7 鈥� usher that water to delivery gates at the edge of farm fields, according to how much has been ordered.

鈥淟ike a milkman,鈥� Mr. Dollente says.听

Today on the Redwood Canal, he鈥檚 tasked with delivering water measured in cubic feet per second. At one stop, he raises a gate a mere inch higher to adjust the flow.

鈥�They鈥檙e the face of the district to the farmer,鈥澨齭ays Ralph Strahm, co-owner of Strahm Farms Inc. in Holtville. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e the ones that save the system from breaching if there鈥檚 a problem.鈥�

Some days are stressful for Mr. Dollente. But he鈥檚 never fallen in. He鈥檒l often clean canals of trash 鈥� a tumbleweed today. One time he found a cow, another time a gun.听

Coyotes, roosters, and water

The water district employs around 140 zanjeros, currently all male. An experienced zanjero can make around $85,000, according to Mr. Schettler. (As of 2021, the census put the Imperial County median household income around $49,000.)听

The term comes from the word zanja, or ditch, and describes part of the irrigation practices introduced by Spanish settlers in what would become California. Zanjeros have worked for the Imperial Irrigation District since it formed in 1911, once living in houses near the waterways they tended.听

鈥淭hey鈥檙e very valuable,鈥� says Benny Andr茅s Jr., associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, who鈥檚 from the Imperial Valley. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a job that no one thinks about or knows about, but it鈥檚 very important.鈥澨�

The role has also evolved alongside technology like cellphones.听Mr. Strahm, the farmer, works closely with zanjeros and keeps their contacts in his phone. Still, he says he鈥檇 like to see the water district adopt more automation, which is widespread but most extensive along the larger canals,听to support conservation.

鈥淲e need more accurate and timely delivery of water with recording devices to alert the zanjero when the water fluctuates,鈥� says the grower.

Water-saving measures that he favors, like sprinkler or drip irrigation, don鈥檛 work when water fluctuates, he adds. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 too little, the system shuts off. And if there鈥檚 too much, it can鈥檛 be used. It just goes to waste.鈥�

Mr. Dollente agrees that enhanced automation would help with precision and conservation, though it鈥檚 considered expensive by the district. Some low-tech traditions have endured, like the yardsticks he uses for some measurements. But zanjeros no longer survey waterways on horseback.听

Instead, Mr. Dollente travels with a laptop in one of the district鈥檚 white trucks, passing other white vehicles driven by U.S. Border Patrol. The two agencies are part of a safety campaign, reports the Calexico Chronicle, to stop drownings in the All-American Canal, which runs parallel to the Mexican border.

Work is often solitary for the zanjero, but he鈥檚 never quite alone. Coyotes pass by, roosters crow. And water sounds like gossip when it rushes through a ditch.