Drop by drop: Young farmers in Del Muerto model an irrigation system for the rez

By Cindy Yurth
Navajo Times

As he and about 40 volunteers installed a drip irrigation system at his farm plot here Tuesday, 26-year-old Lemuel Halwood pictured his cheii looking over his shoulder.

Halwood thinks he knows what Kee "Silao Nez" Teller would have said if he had lived to see this latest development at the family farm: "Grandson, you've got a good head on your shoulders."

"Not just me, but all my brothers and sisters and cousins who are helping with this," Halwood corrected himself instantly. "This farm was always for everybody."

And, true to form, everybody - well, 40 people each day of this week's two-day drip irrigation system demonstration - showed up.

Wednesday, after the newly installed system had been allowed to moisten the soil, everyone from toddlers to grannies grabbed a planting stick and helped the Halwood kids sow corn, beans, squash and melons - the same crops Halwood remembers Kee and Delores Teller growing on the land when he was a boy.

The system's designer, irrigation specialist Edward C. Martin from the University of Arizona's Maricopa Agricultural Center, beamed as a man stuck a corer in the ground and determined that, after being on for just one hour the previous evening, the system of perforated tape and PCV pipe had moistened the ground to six inches deep.

"It's working exactly as it's supposed to," said Martin. "I'm very pleased."

Martin thinks drip irrigation may be the answer for farming on the rez.

"You've got a situation where people are in very isolated areas and have to haul water," he said. "Obviously, you want the most efficient system possible. And there is nothing more efficient than drip irrigation."

With a standard surface irrigation system, like a sprinkler, only between 60 and 75 percent of the water reaches the plant roots, Martin explained.

Wind and evaporation claim the rest, plus you're watering weeds along with your vegetables.

Drip systems, on the other hand, are generally more than 90 percent efficient.

Not only that, but they're cheap - the Halwood kids' system, involving some PCV pipe and 1,800 feet of perforated tape, cost only a couple hundred dollars and will irrigate a plot big enough to feed the entire extended family and have some crops left over to sell at the flea market.

Their system is hooked up to a 1,500-gallon storage tank that is filled by a well pumped by a diesel generator, but a smaller system can be set up using nothing but gravity.

Just build a stand to raise a bucket -anywhere from five to 50 gallons, depending on how big your garden is - five to six feet above the ground, and tap your system right into it.

Running the system for an hour or two every two or three days (you'll have to experiment with this, as it depends on your soil type) will keep the rows moist several inches deep and still allow the soil to warm up enough to allow seeds to sprout.

Drip irrigation takes less labor than moving pipes or digging ditches, but it does require monitoring, Martin said.

"You'll want to check the tubing every two weeks or so and make sure it doesn't clog with sand," he said. You don't want to miss an irrigation, as it's hard to "catch up."

And the tubing is fragile - leaks will inevitably show up, but they can usually be patched with electrical tape.

"And even with a few good leaks, you're losing a lot less water than you would with a standard system," he told the crowd.

Martin had set up a drip system at the Hubbell Trading Post three years ago, but this week was his first time in Canyon de Chelly.

He usually works with commercial producers in the Maricopa area, he said, but was thrilled to receive an invitation from Lorena Halwood, Lemuel's mom, and other women farmers in the area to set up a demonstration in Del Muerto.

"Usually when Navajos need help with something, even Arizona Navajos, they think of UNM (University of New Mexico)," Martin said. "I always feel like, 'Hey, you're in Arizona, why don't you call us?' So every time I get a chance to come out here, I jump on it."

Plus, Martin had to admit, the Halwoods' place was the prettiest location for a farm he had ever seen.

And after sampling a lunch of fire-roasted beef on Navajo tortillas with salsa, he was a convert to Navajo food.

Meanwhile, his Dine audience was more than appreciative. Several people announced they were going right home and setting up a drip system.

Watching with satisfaction as the volunteers made short work of planting the Halwood farm, Sally Sam, an elder from the de Chelly side of the canyon, pronounced the system "nizhoni."

Will she set one up at her place?

"Aoo', aoo', aoo' ("yes, yes, yes")," she replied.

Information: Hubbell Trading Post, 928-755-3475, Dr. Edward C. Martin, 520-568-2273.

Martin's favorite drip tape, connectors and other drip irrigation components can be ordered from Chapin Watermatics Inc. of Watertown, N.Y. (315-788-0891)