Statement of Intent

Landscapes in Southern California are in distress. Water is diverted to meet the demands of major cities like Los Angeles and San Diego. The Salton Sea is drying up and Owens Lake has been dry for decades. Wind creates toxic clouds that threaten local communities. I asked myself how to raise awareness of the water situation in California in general, and in a town called Borrego Springs in particular.

Golf courses, resorts and farms combined are accountable for 90% of the water use in Borrego Springs, a desert area that sees an average high of over 40 degrees Celsius in July and August. Borrego Springs does not have rivers or pipelines that bring water into the valley. All water is collected from rain in an underground aquifer. Water overdraft is scientifically proven by official water level measurements by the U.S. Geological Survey. The water table for certain wells, that access the aquifer, dropped more than 40 meters since measurement started in the early 1950’s, 7.5 meters alone between 2005 and 2010.

We have to take responsibility for the consequences of our actions and think long-term. By purposefully wasting water I provoke and force the viewer to question their own behavior, not just in relation to Borrego Springs. If the viewer comes to the realization, that they are not wasting water or they have ways to conserve water, then I have achieved my goal. I want everyone to rethink their green lawns in the front yard when average high temperatures soar well above 40 degrees Celsius.

“If Borrego was home to a lake instead of an aquifer, if citizens could watch the town’s water being drained on a day-to-day basis, could see the rings marking its slow depletion, things might have turned out differently.” [1]

- Zoie Matthew, 2016 

[1] "A desert oasis dries up" - Borrego Springs, once poised to be a glamorous California resort town, is running out of water https://la.curbed.com/2016/11/3/13483388/california-desert-drought-borrego-springs

Documentation of the Installation

Summarized, every installation has a double meaning. The green plant in front of fallowed citrus trees, the green lawn in front of an abandoned golf course, or the running faucet in front of a dead Honey Mesquite tree. Every installation was purposefully placed to provide a deeper meaning and start a discussion. How many citrus farms or golf courses are healthy in order to stop the water overdraft? How to find a balance between residential use of water and supporting recreational activities? With the strict goals to reduce water use and return to a sustainable use by 2040 how much growth does the town allow?

Each installation of this three-part series shares the same concept: The artist is clearly wasting water. He is overwatering plants. In the foreground we see unused water running off into the dried desert soil. This is a wakeup call for the viewer that in our daily lives we often unconsciously waste water. And it is a call for action: We can simply convert a green lawn into a drought tolerant Xeriscape Garden requiring little to no irrigation. Or more difficult: we move farms to places that have a warm, not desert hot, climate where water is abundant.

The second aspect of the installation are the individual locations. The artist carefully selected locations to give the installations a double meaning: The green plant in front of the fallowed trees symbolizes that change is underway. In order to achieve a sustainable level water overdraft from the aquifer has to be reduced. Per Stipulated Judgment from April 8th, 2021 [2], all pumpers in the Borrego Subbasin have to ramp down their water use five percent every year for the next ten years.

[2] Borrego Springs Subbasin Groundwater Adjudication https://www.borregowaterlawsuit.com