Water, land, climate change and agrarian livelihood in an arid region riparian corridor: Rayón, Sonora, Mexico

Results of recent fieldwork in Rayón, Sonora, Mexico (funded by NSF's "Strengthening Resilience of Arid Region Riparian Corridors") indicate that the coupled natural and human (CNH) system that has persisted since the town's founding in 1626 is being degraded and destabilised by a confluence of social and ecological pressures. System change or loss of key system services and products has important implications for ecological services and human economic activity in the riparian corridor. Less water quantity is the primary factor responsible for driving system degradation and change. Drought caused by climate change is widely perceived by agriculturists as responsible for reduced water quantity in the riparian area. Reductions in water quantity are so severe that the once perennial Rio San Miguel did not run during 2012's summer months for the first time in residents' memory. Ninety-percent of wells are dry. Fields irrigated by surface-water acequias were not planted. Starvation or dehydration has thinned herd sizes. Residents fear they will lose the ability to practice their traditional livelihoods: ranching, farming and cheese production. Drought conditions and resource management in response to climatic change have had a net negative impact on ecological services. Agriculturists have responded to less forage and pasture for cattle by clearing mesquite forests, putting land into production, and increasing water demand. From interviews it appears this process is cyclical: agriculturists widely believe access to more water or an end to the drought are the only ways to improve conditions. Interviews also reveal (a) agriculturists view technology, especially that which is able to improve water-use efficiency, as means to reduce stress in the CNH system and (b) a holistic view that couples natural well-being to human well-being is absent from the majority of respondents' worldviews. Technological and adoption of holistic perceptions are adaptations that may potentially reduce system stresses to prevent or prolong system collapse. If the ranching and farming systems in Rayón collapse, Mining in the immediate riparian area and the illegal drug trade may replace agriculture as the predominant economic systems.