While chatting with a grower recently, he shared a saying he once heard: “You can mess with a guy’s wife, but you can’t mess with his water.” Depending on your sense of humor, that saying might come across as a bit crude, but I use it because it paints a picture of the realities of Western water disputes.

Time is different in the city. City dwellers have watches, clocks and bell towers. We in rural America rely on the sun. If you arrive a second past an agreed-upon time in the city, you are late. If you arrive a second past an agreed-upon time in the country, you will wait on the other person.