More than oil or gold, our rearrangement of water has altered the landscape of the American West. Beyond the 100th meridian, the West begins-that vast territory defined by the need for irrigation in order to grow substantial crops. We have created man-made rivers with our aqueducts. We have created lakes where there were none with our reservoirs. We have even made our water flow uphill pushed by powerful pumps. Without seeing the full ramification of our actions, we have taken water from seven Western states and Mexico and made it flow to Los Angeles.

Wanda Hammerbeck
From Water In The West

Human tampering with the natural world has made the Earth itself an artifact, for the process of civilization has been one of domesticating environments. In the American West, perhaps the most apparent human effort to control nature is the management of water, particularly the Colorado River, which descends from the Rocky Mountains and concludes its 1,500-mile journey at the Gulf of California. This great river with its unparalleled rapids is oversubscribed.The Colorado River has become a symbol of the hope, conflict, and dilemma of managing nature's aridity.

Peter Goin
From Humanature

My photographs in the Water In The West project have evolved from my travels throughout the West looking at our culture's relationship to water. The work is concerned about our attitudes toward growth and related environmental controversies. Some of the work addresses the issues with irony. Some of it looks at our culture's desire to possess, control, and shape the land and water to our needs. Certain photographs document abuse, while others examine the complex, evolving relationship to water that I hope to influence with this work.

Robert Dawson
From Water In The West

My photographs and installations create a contemplative space where one may consider the subtle and profound connections between humanity, nature, and our constructed environments. The subject of water provides endless material for ideas and artworks that bring greater awareness of the interdependence of human beings and the natural world. My artwork develops from the myriad meanings, mythologies, and metaphors associated with water, the universal solve(nt), integrated with ideas about nature, the body, and art experienced as a "sacred site."

Sant Khalsa
From Watershed and Western Waters