‘They’ll be erased’: New Mexico races to save its ancient irrigation canals

New Mexico's ancient water systems nurtured its rural farmlands through climate change. But after last year's wildfires, there's little time left to save them

Jimmy Sanchez knows that making things grow during a megadrought isn't impossible - it just requires a bit of creativity.

In 1882, his ancestors constructed a 24-mile-long ditch to bring water from headwaters in the nearby mountains to the bone-dry foothills where they lived in Holman, New Mexico, allowing their village to sustain fruit, vegetables, and livestock.