The truth is the drought is here to stay until global warming melts enough snow to force us into the next ice age, or we replant all of the trees we've been spending the last five thousand years tearing down. The truth is just about every one of us needs to conserve water.
Most people know organic matter in the soil helps the soil retain moisture. And most people know organic matter in mulch does the same thing. Here's a trick the Navajo in my area of the continent learned when they didn't have too much organic matter to spread over the soil: They dug organic matter from the last year's crops into the soil. Then they planted their corn in a basin, which they called a "cup," into which they poured a layer of sand until it was level with the rest of the soil.
Sand over soil retains more moisture than soil over soil. The desert sun heats the sand, but the sand acts as a layer of insulation. It allows the moisture to fall through to the soil. It does not allow the moisture to see the sun and be evaporated by it.
Corn was one of the mainstay crops in the desert southwest. With the short season corn favored by the Indians it was possible to plant twice: Once, a few weeks before the April moon, and the second time at the beginning of July. The first planting took full advantage of the rains that fall in early spring and then again around modern graduation time. The second planting took advantage of what we call the monsoon season. Our rains usually begin in mid-July and run through August.
This year I planted a demonstration native crop during the first season, with the intentions of using what I've learned to help me with a second, later planting during the monsoon. As an informationist, I know that it usually takes about ten years of doing something before anyone can call themselves expert it. By planting two crops a year I should become twice the expert at planting those crops than I would have been had I planted only one. I may not know all of the variances in climate a farmer will learn in the full years, but I'll know the crops doubly well, and I'll have double the harvest.
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