‘Sowing Water’ for Life

The grandmother water defender, Carmen Santiago Alonso of Flor y Canto. Photo by Diana Manzo.

For thousands of years, the indigenous Zapotec people of Oaxaca managed periods of drought by digging wells to replenish the aquifer. After the Mexican government banned indigenous water use for agriculture, in preference to industries like mining, water resources dropped critically low across the Central Valley.

The visionary indigenous activist Carmen Santiago Alonso combined ancient and contemporary practices to bring the land back to life. Under her leadership, over 300 absorption wells were dug, and 100,000 trees were planted to capture the moisture that allows the region to flourish today.

After decades of political and ecological activism, the Mexican government formally recognized the collective rights of the Zapotec community to manage their water in 2019.