{"id":95,"date":"2022-07-17T22:46:53","date_gmt":"2022-07-17T22:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prudencekatze.net\/unalineafilm\/?p=95"},"modified":"2022-09-20T14:13:21","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T14:13:21","slug":"june-24-2022-los-manantiales-de-esqueda-sonora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prudencekatze.net\/unalineafilm\/2022\/07\/17\/june-24-2022-los-manantiales-de-esqueda-sonora\/","title":{"rendered":"Water \/ Los Manantiales de Esqueda, Sonora"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Water in the Desert
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I first visited Douglas, AZ in January 2021. Douglas is a border town in the southeast corner of Arizona, only 20ish miles west of New Mexico. It was dry, cold, and my focus was on documenting the last days of the border wall construction. I had no idea about the energ\u00eda <\/em>of water in the ecosystems of south east Arizona and north east Sonora, MX. I had not yet experienced the awesome force of the summer monsoon rains and how they create a second spring that turns the land green. The beginning of the rainy season is a celebratory event.<\/p>\n

The term “monsoon” refers to the shifting winds that brings moisture into the southwest USA. Here’s how Arizona State University puts it<\/a>: “During the winter time, the primary wind flow in Arizona is from the west or northwest\u2014from California and Nevada. As we move into the summer, the winds shift to a southerly or southeasterly direction. Moisture streams northward from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. This shift produces a radical change in moisture conditions statewide.”<\/p>\n

I’ve been living in Douglas, AZ since January and am less than a mile from the international border shared with sister city Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. The skies can be incredibly clear during the winter months, an blue infinite dome over the dormant, sienna landscape of dry scrub and leaf-less ocotillos<\/a>.  The monsoon started in June this year and it’s still quite the head-trip to witness a billowing, imposing thunderhead unleash itself. From my back deck I can easily follow the transit of a towering storm cloud as it makes it journey northward, buoyed by intense winds. And the landscape is now emerald green.<\/p>\n

I’m intrigued by the metaphorical richness of the boundary-crossing summer monsoons and I’ve been looking for more ways water is present in the ecological territory shared between the states of southeastern Arizona and northeastern Sonora.<\/p>\n

The monsoon rains don’t last past September. Luckily, the desert landscape harbors many mini-oases created by year-round water sources; seeps, springs, manantiales <\/em>(en espa\u00f1ol). I learned more about these magical seeps through the guidance of Springs Specialist in the Spring Seeker program,<\/a> a project of the Tucson-based Sky Island Alliance<\/a><\/p>\n

June 24, 2022 – Seeking Manantiales in Esqueda.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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