He looked through it.
His eyebrows rose.
“These are real?”
“Metered.”
“You're including system makeup?”
“Yes.”
“Cleaning?”
“Yes.”
“Fish tanks?”
“Yes.”
“Crop beds?”
“Yes.”
The inspector looked at her.
“I want to install a secondary meter.”
“Why?”
“To verify independently.”
She almost laughed.
“You don't trust me?”
“I don't trust anyone during drought.”
“Good.”
She held out her hand.
“When?”
The secondary meter went in three days later.
The inspector also installed a tamper seal.
The farm woman agreed willingly.
Then she made a larger decision.
She capped the production well temporarily.
Not because she had infinite water.
She did not.
Because she wanted a test.
Her stored reserve was high.
Crop acreage had been intentionally limited.
She wanted to know how long the system could operate using its existing circulated water plus stored non-well reserves.
She told the inspector.
He frowned.
“Risky.”
“Yes.”
“If you lose too much volume?”
“I reopen legally.”
“You're allowed.”
“I know.”
“Why test it?”
“Because nobody believes the numbers.”
He smiled slightly.
“You planning to prove something?”
“No.”
Then she thought about the men at the fence.
“Maybe.”
The well was sealed.
Day one.
Nothing changed.
Day seven.
Water levels in the system declined slightly.
She replaced losses from the cistern.
Day fourteen.
Still stable.
The fish remained healthy.
Plants continued producing.
She reduced planting density in one bed.
Harvested aggressively.
Monitored temperature.
Day twenty-seven.
The valley’s fourth major agricultural well failed.
Day thirty-two.
County restrictions tightened.
Day thirty-nine.
The first older farmer lost his primary well.
That was the day he returned to her fence.
No laughter.
No jokes.
He looked ten years older.
His boots were dusty.
Hat sweat-stained.
He stared at her green rows.
“How?”
The farm woman was replacing a filter screen.
“You asked me that already.”
“I didn't listen properly.”
That surprised her.
She stopped working.
He came closer.
“My peppers are curling.”
“How long without water?”
“Two days at full shortage.”
“Some drip from secondary storage.”
“Not enough.”
She nodded.
He looked toward the tank.