“Can this save them?”
The question carried desperation.
The farm woman answered carefully.
“No.”
His face fell.
“Your system?”
“My system could save water if built for your crops.”
“But I can't magically send this water across fifty acres and expect it to return.”
“So this is useless to me.”
“No.”
She stepped toward the fence.
“It means you need a different scale.”
“Different crop choices.”
“Recapture where possible.”
“Protected production for higher-value crops.”
“Storage.”
“Maybe integrate fish.”
“Maybe not.”
“Aquaponics isn't a religion.”
The farmer stared.
“Could you build me something?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Months.”
He looked toward his dying fields.
“I have days.”
The farm woman said nothing.
Some problems did not have comforting answers.
The older farmer looked at her.
Then whispered:
“I shouldn't have laughed.”
She shrugged.
“It didn't change the water.”
“No.”
“But it wasted time.”
That was true.
Neither said it.
Two days later, both older farmers arrived together.
This time they walked through the gate without waiting.
The farm woman was at the main control panel.
The second man looked angry.
Not at her exactly.
At the world.
His well had dropped below pump intake that morning.
He walked toward the nearest tank.
“There has to be another source.”
The farm woman looked up.
“What?”
“This much green.”
“Your well isn't pumping.”
“No.”
“My well isn't pumping.”
He pointed toward the crops.
“Then this is impossible.”
“It isn't.”
“You're hiding water.”
The farm woman slowly removed her gloves.
The first farmer said:
“Leave it.”
His friend ignored him.
He marched toward the plumbing manifold.
“Show me.”
“Don't touch that.”
He grabbed a flexible hose.
She moved quickly.
“Stop.”
He shoved the hose aside.
It struck a metal rail.
Water pressure changed slightly.
The pump tone shifted.
The farm woman lunged to the control valve.
“Back up.”
The farmer reached toward the panel.
She shoved his hand away.
Hard enough to stop him.
Not enough to injure.
“Touch my system again and you'll destroy the one thing in this valley actually saving water.”
He stepped back.
His face went red.
“You shoved me.”
“You reached for a live pump control you don't understand.”
“I want to see where the water comes from.”
“Ask.”
“I have been asking.”
“No.”
She pointed at him.
“You've been accusing.”
Silence.