ROBERT DAWSON PHOTOGRAPHY

WATER & POWER: A GLOBAL EMPIRE OF THIRST

"Water is the ideal form of powerfluid, adaptable, and persistent, able to wear down even the hardest stone through patience and flow."
- Laozi in Tao Te Ching

Robert Dawson first photographed the relationship between water and power at Mono Lake, California in the late 1970s, then expanded that work to the American West and later to sites throughout the world. His work explores humanitys desire to possess, control, and shape nature to our perceived needs by documenting both the exploitation of this vital resource and the complex social relationship between people and water. Water serves as a metaphor that teaches us about the nature of powerits ability to create, inspire and sustain us, but also, if unchecked, to destroy and erase communities.

Building on his years of photographing water issues in the American West, Dawson traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia to look at the legacy of the war and the effects of the burgeoning international shrimp industry on local communities. In India, he documented the forced relocation of local residents due to the rising waters of a nearby dam. In Iceland he visited a controversial dam project that destroyed a vast wilderness and provided power solely for the production and export of aluminum. In northern Mexico he photographed how the Colorado River completely dried up due to oversubscription of the river upstream in the US. And along Guatemalas Chixoy River he documented indigenous communities ongoing battle for water rights. Dawsons photographs underscore how water disputes symbolize broader struggles over power, control, economics, and survivalissues that transcend borders and impact communities worldwide.

Civilizations have risen and fallen based on their ability to manage water resources. From ancient irrigation systems of Mesopotamia to modern battles over water rights in the American West, the control of water has dramatically shaped human life. Today, in an era of climate change, rapid urbanization, and increasing water scarcity, the environmental and social challenges of water management are now more urgent than ever. By documenting these struggles, Dawson challenges viewers to recognize that water is not just a resource, it is a fundamental human right. His photographs ask who benefits from the abundance of water, and who suffers from its absence. As we confront these challenges, how we manage our vital natural resources will reflect on the future of our shared world.

Terrace of Honor, Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia, 1999<p>Since its beginning in 1150 CE, water has been central to the development of Angkor. Water held deep religious and cultural significance in Khmer society, reinforcing the power of the king. The Khmers unique water system allowed it to thrive for centuries. However, extreme flooding and prolonged droughts overwhelmed Angkors intricate water system. Like today, the Khmers were unprepared for climate change. As their infrastructure deteriorated, they struggled to repair it, hastening the collapse of their civilization. Over the past two decades, Cambodia has experienced a significant increase in tourism. Angkor Wat alone attracts over four million visitors annually. This influx of tourists, along with the expansion of hotels and restaurants, has placed immense pressure on the regions water supply, leading to severe shortages. Since the structural integrity of the Khmer temples depends on a steady groundwater supply, concerns have arisen about the preservation of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. To address these challenges, a large-scale restoration project has been undertaken to revive Angkors medieval hydraulic system. This ancient water system has helped mitigate shortages and reduce the risk of severe flooding in recent years. Ironically, the same centuries-old infrastructure that once sustained the Angkor civilization is now playing a vital role in preserving Cambodias cultural heritage. , Soldier guarding the Court of the Lions, Alhambra, Granada, Spain, 1980<p>The Alhambra is one of the most renowned monuments of Islamic architecture, celebrated for its ethereal beauty and intimate design. Its sophisticated water system is a remarkable example of medieval hydraulic engineering, seamlessly blending practical, spiritual, and aesthetic functions.The Palace of the Lions represents the architectural pinnacle of the Alhambra. Built in the 14th century, it features 12 intricately carved lions, each spouting a jet of water to mark the passage of time. In a carefully controlled sequence, the lions would activate one by one, hour by hour, until all were flowing by midday. The gravity-fed system would then reset itself, beginning the cycle anew. Water in the Alhambra was more than just functional; it symbolized quiet authority and power. Remarkably, this medieval hydraulic system still functions today and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Alhambra represented a form of medieval Islamic stability, civilization, and control. When I made this photograph in 1980, Spain was in crisis. The long dark rule of the brutal dictator Franco had just ended. The first free elections had just occurred creating a relatively smooth transition to democracy. A bloody rebellion of Basque separatists was occurring. A failed right-wing coup was about to take place. And a socialist president would win elections and peacefully govern until 1996. Although my photograph shows a place of harmony and peace, the presence of the soldier suggests otherwise. , Map of the Headwaters of the Colorado River, Rocky Mt. National Park, CO, 1986<p>The Colorado River is one of the major rivers in the Western United States. Its watershed encompasses part of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states. It is a vital source of water for 40 million people. Major dams on the river generate hydroelectric power for much of the Intermountain West. In most years its entire flow is diverted for agricultural irrigation and domestic water supply. Intensive water use has dried up the lower 100 miles of the river, which since the 1960s has rarely reached the sea., Former Colorado River wetlands, Baja California, Mexico, 2005<p>The Colorado River Delta is where the Colorado River used to flow into the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). This vast, wildlife-rich area was once North Americas largest wetland. Paddling the delta in 1922, naturalist Aldo Leopold was entranced by the flourishing world beyond the tip of his canoe. Verdant walls of mesquite and willow . . . a hundred green lagoons, he wrote. The river was everywhere and nowhere. The use of water upstream in the U.S. and the reduction of freshwater flow has resulted in the loss of most the wetlands of the area., Ecotourist development in drug smuggling area near US border, Sonora, Mexico, 2005<p>Hope for the environmental restoration of this region was just beginning in 2005. New developments such as this were starting to bring the possibility of an economic revival through eco-tourism to this devastated part of northern Mexico. Unfortunately, not long after I made this photograph, a sharp increase in drug smuggling and refugee traffic began to flow right through this area., Pelicans over restored marsh formed by agricultural wastewater, Sonora, Mexico, 2005<p>All the diminished flow of the Colorado River water that entered Mexico in 2005 was used for urban and especially agricultural use. No water was proscribed to sustain the natural environment or wildlife. Working with the Mexican environmental group Pronatura, Yaqui Native Juan Butron led us on a sunrise canoe tour of the marsh La Cienega de Santa Clara that he helped restore. We saw nature and wildlife struggling to reinhabit the former wasteland. All the water that created this marsh came from agricultural runoff., Shrimp farm in former mangrove forest, Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, 1999<p>In 1999, I visited Vietnam with my brother-in-law John Manchester and our families. John had served as a helicopter pilot during the war while I had been student protesting against the war. The journey was a way for all of us to better understand a place that had been so important to our young adult lives but now wanted to be thought of as a country, not a war. During the Vietnam war, the US military built major facilities at Cam Ranh Bay. The extensive mangrove forests that once surrounded the Bay have been partly replaced by commercial activity including shrimp farms. Losses of mangroves release large amounts of carbon dioxide greatly contributing to global warming. In addition, loss of the forests removes their natural protection of the region from tropical storms blowing in from the South China Sea. There has been a postwar program of replanting to try and revive mangrove habitats, especially areas destroyed by US defoliants such as Agent Orange., Pilgrims praying, Narmada River, India, 2001<p>India is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world. However, the Narmada River is one of the longest and cleanest rivers in India. To Hindus it is one of their seven holy rivers. Pilgrims sometime perform a holy pilgrimage of circumambulation of the river. Over 30 dam projects have been proposed for the Narmada and government agencies have undertaken rescue excavations to transplant several sacred sites and temples., Flooded meeting tree, Domekedhi, India, 2001<p>In 2001, I traveled with writer Jacques Leslie to photograph activist Medha Patkar in her effort to stop the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the sacred Narmada River in western India. She succeeded in getting the World Bank to defund the dam, but it was later completed with funds from the Indian government. Fifteen years after receiving a Goldman Environmental Prize, Medha was still struggling to improve the lives of thousands of tribal villagers who were being displaced by the dam. The villagers of Domekedhi once met under this sacred meeting tree which was now flooded by the Narmada. Medha Patkar unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide here to protest the raising of the height of the dam by drowning herself in the rising waters of the sacred river., Displaced people illegally tapping water from pipe, outside of Delhi, India, 2001<p>The Sardar Sarovar Dam is the largest dam yet built on the Narmada and has become a focal point for a non-violent struggle questioning its social and environmental costs, undemocratic planning, and unjust distribution of benefits. The struggle continues in the Sardar Sarovar affected areas and with other large and medium dams on the Narmada and its tributaries. It has led to thousands of affected families receiving land-based rehabilitation, sometimes on land not suited for farming. The fight continues against submergence and displacement without rehabilitation of more than 40,000 families residing in these submergence areas of the Sardar Sarovar. A substantial number have fled to urban areas to desperately try for a better life., Dry well, Pacux, Guatemala, 2007<p>I photographed a group of Maya Achi who in 1982 had resisted the drowning of their ancestral homelands by a large dam project. As a result, government soldiers kidnapped, raped, and massacred 444 of them in the village of Rio Negro alone. Altogether, the government committed a series of extrajudicial killings connected to the dam that claimed up to 5,000 lives between 1980 and 1982 that later became known as the Rio Negro massacres. Our assignment was to record what had become of the survivors twenty-five years later. The dry well is in a resettlement village for the victims of the massacres at Rio Negro. The land for the village was poor for farming and the people here were having a hard time surviving. Inadequate farm and household land provided by the government has contributed significantly to the severe poverty and malnutrition of the region. In addition, extreme drought from climate change was forcing many Central American farmers to emigrate., Highland Mayan Guatemalans, El Naranjo, Guatemala (grid), 2007<p>Twenty-five years earlier, many families, friends and neighbors of these people were massacred for resisting the construction of the large Chixoy dam on the Rio Negro that would eventually flood their home village. I photographed these Highland Mayan Guatemalans as they recalled the genocide and their survival., Memories of a massacre - mural and names of victims, Mayan Community Center/Library, Colonia Pacux, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, 2007<p>Translation: "This story is never forgotten in the memory of the survivors, Together we seek justice ... to punish those responsible for this serious violation of human rights." Left: "Our relatives massacred on February 13, 1982 in the alder of Xococ Rabinal, Baja Verapaz. " Right: "Our relatives, women, children, were massacred on March 13, 1982. By the Guatemalan army and patrollers of Xococ Rabinal, Baja Verapaz", The Needles, Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, NV (diptych), 1989<p>Since the first dam diversion in 1906, Pyramid Lake has lost over 45 feet of vertical shoreline, threatening vital rookeries and wildlife habitats. The Paiute Indian Tribe, its members historically gatherers, fishermen, and protectors of Pyramid Lake, has been entangled in complex legal battles for years seeking redress for the lost water. Yet the growing metropolitan areas in northern Nevada and California, along with ranching and farming, now depend on the water from the Truckee River. Given that this area recently suffered from many years of drought, and is normally quite arid, the demands upon the water system are creating a crisis of scarcity. The Needles area is considered sacred to the Paiutes of Pyramid Lake. After having it repeatedly trashed by non-Native visitors, the Paiutes closed off the area to non-Tribal people., Missionary church and Paiute boy, Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, Nixon, NV (diptych), 1989<p>An abandoned community center is seen in the background built by the federal government for the Indians to help the impoverished tribe. It was never fully embraced by the Paiutes. The structure in the foreground was built by a non-Native Christian missionary. It consists of recycled movie theater seats that are covered by a thatched roof. The pulpit is made from an upright log and a Paiute boy is sitting on a bench to the right holding a plastic toy gun., New homes built on the Truckee River floodplain, NV, 1989<p>In 1989 I started a project with photographer Peter Goin and writer Mary Webb to study the Truckee River watershed and the ongoing water war between the city of Reno, Nevada, the farmers and ranchers of western Nevada and the Paiute Indians of Pyramid Lake, Nevada. This water system is a good example of critical water issues facing all the arid regions of the American West. Uncontrolled growth allowed the homes in this photograph to be built in a potentially dangerous place., Native boy and fisherman, mouth of the Klamath River, CA, 2007<p>The Klamath River was once the Pacific Coasts third-largest salmon fishery. For nearly 100 years, four dams on the Klamath have played a major role in decimating the rivers salmon population. They have all been removed by 2024 which will help restore the beleaguered salmon on which Indigenous tribes depend. This is the biggest dam removal and river restoration effort in history. However, climate change has produced a record-breaking drought, epic wildfires, and the spread of infectious parasites accelerated by earlier high water temperatures and low flows. Although there are some early signs of recovery, critics worry that the salmon restoration may come too late. Salmon are the foundation for Native people here and without them, the ecosystem could collapse., Indian fishing platforms, Deschutes River, OR, 1989<p>The French name Deschutes meant River of the Falls. It referred to Celilo Falls on the Columbia River which is now inundated by The Dalles Dam. Although the Deschutes River is a world-renowned fishing area, the upper river is diverted into canals to irrigate farmland, sometimes using up to 98% of the rivers flow in the summer. The growth of cities like Bend also increased demand on the river, which is now over-allocated. Leaking canals and the huge growth of golf courses have added to this water crisis in central Oregon., San Joaquin River, listed as America's most endangered river, San Joaquin County, CA, 2015<p>The San Joaquin River is Californias second-largest river. Its confluence with the Sacramento River in the San Francisco Bay-Delta creates the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas and is a vital habitat for various fish species. Additionally, the San Joaquin and the Delta provide drinking water to 23 million Californians. However, the San Joaquin River and its tributaries are extensively dammed, with water diversions removing up to 70% of the rivers natural flow. As a result, more than 100 miles of the river have been dried for over half a century. The San Joaquin is also one of the most polluted rivers in the United States. It contains dangerously high levels of toxic pollution. In the 1980s, toxic selenium runoff caused a devastating wildlife tragedy at the nearby Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge. , San Luis Drain, Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge, CA, 1985<p>One of the worst environmental disasters in California was at Kesterson Reservoir, a disposal site for agricultural drain water which also doubled as a wildlife refuge. Initially, animals and plants thrived in the artificial wetlands that were created here, but in 1983, it was found that birds had suffered severe deformities and deaths due to steadily increasing levels of chemicals and toxins, especially selenium. In the next few years, almost all the fish species died and algae blooms proliferated in the foul water. These have not only been bad on San Joaquin River ecology, but also caused pollution to the sources of most of the large aqueducts in the state including the California and Delta-Mendota Canals., Polluted New River, Mexican American border, Calexico, CA, 1989<p>The river mostly consists of agricultural runoff, municipal discharge, and industrial wastewater. It flows north from Mexico into the United States and has been called the most severely polluted river of its size in the US. Despite some efforts to clean it up, in 2019, toxic chemicals, heavy metals and raw sewage continue to be found in the river. Discarded trash, dead animals, and other waste line the channel, whose toxic foam blows from the river into the streets of the border towns of Calexico and Mexicali. Part of the problem has been the proliferation of US owned small manufacturing plants in Mexico that can pay lower wages and are not constrained by our environmental regulations. The irony here is that we are receiving our own toxic pollution back to the US through the New River that empties into California's Salton Sea., Uranium Drive-In, Naturita, CO, 1986<p>With the rise of nuclear power after World War II, uranium became a highly sought-after element. In many uranium mining towns, mining companies provided schools, hospitals, and other civic functionseven Miss Uranium beauty pageants. Uranium mining has left a toxic environmental and human legacy in Colorado. EPA Superfund cleanup sites dot the landscape and water of the uranium mining areas. Over a million people in Colorado live within five miles of a uranium mine and some towns reused radioactive tailings in construction sites and home gardens. As miners began dying of cancer in the 1950s, federal investigations revealed a connection between the toxic work environment and the epidemic, but the industry did not implement any strict regulations until the mid-1960s., Kárahnjúkar dam, Central Highlands, Iceland, 2004<p>I photographed the struggle over the construction of a vast dam complex in the Central Highlands in Iceland. This is the largest dam built in Europe and the largest power generator in Iceland with its entire hydroelectric power going to an Alcoa aluminum smelter. The project has been heavily criticized for its environmental impact, use of foreign workers rather than locals and that none of its vast power production goes into Icelands power grid. The project affected the second largest (formerly) unspoiled wilderness in Europe covering about 3% of Icelands total land mass. A year after I took this photograph, it was impossible to get near this site as world-wide protests had erupted against the dam., Straight River, Red Mountain Pass, CO, 1984<p>In 1984, Ellen Manchester and I started a large-scale collaborative photographic project called Water in the West. It consisted of approximately 14 photographers and advisors from all over the country. We actively worked together for ten years and eventually our work became part of a permanent archive at the University of Arizonas Center for Creative Photography in Tucson. We were inspired by many writers and thinkers such as Donald Worster who wrote about water: Water in our present economy has no intrinsic value, no integrity that must be respectedIt has now become a commodity that is bought and sold and used to make other commoditiesAll mystery disappears from its depth, all gods depart, all contemplation of its flow ceasesAnd in that new language of market calculation lies an assertion of ultimate power over nature  of a domination that absolute, total, and free from all restraint., Ellen and Walker under Los Angeles Aquaduct, Owens Valley, CA, 1992<p>We have many spent years following water in the West. This image was made while tracing the route of the Los Angeles Aquaduct with our son Walker when he was a young child. Armed conflicts occurred over water in the Owens Valley in the 1920s. Parts of this Aquaduct were blown up by outraged farmers who saw their livelihoods threatened by the City of Los Angeles acquiring the Valleys water rights. Eventually, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power won this water war. Today, there is a very large pipe carrying vast amounts of water through a very dry Owens Valley., Favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2007<p>Favelas are unplanned shantytowns that have developed on the outskirts of Brazils major cities. Access to essential services such as clean water, electricity, and sewage disposal remains a major challenge. Severe water shortages, inconsistent access to piped water, and low water pressure often result in prolonged periods without water, forcing residents to ration it for basic needs like drinking, cooking, and bathing. Water insecurity further deepens economic and social inequalities in the country. We visited Rocinha, Brazils largest hillside favela, where people worked cooperatively to survive in difficult conditions. We encountered children guarding the favela, some carrying automatic weapons. Many residents seemed more fearful of the police than of drug dealers. The complex, symbiotic relationship between the drug trade and the nearby glittering tourist hubs of Copacabana and Ipanema was explained to us, offering a deeper understanding of this impoverished and often violent world. , Flood irrigation, near Manteca, CA, 1982<p>Approximately 75% of the irrigated land in California is in the Central Valley. It is one of the most-pumped aquifer systems in the United States. Two thousand gallons of subsidized water currently goes into the production of a dollars worth of Central Valley grapes. The real cost of that water is twenty or thirty times what the Valleys farmers are paying for it. At the time of this photograph, water subsidies often led to wasteful practices as shown here using flood irrigation in an arid climate., Large Corporate Farm, near Bakersfield, CA, 1983<p>Once described as factories in the fields much of the agriculture in Californias intensively farmed Central Valley is grown by large corporations rather than family-owned farms. Using fewer than 1% of the nations farmland, the Valley produces 25% of the nations food. To sustain such agricultural bounty industrial scale farms often use unsustainable agricultural practices such as applying massive doses of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Industrial farming often depletes the soil, lessens genetic diversity, and leads to less water absorption and less ability to withstand changing climate patterns. Making this image of a lone tree in a laser-leveled field helped me better understand the consequences of the corporatization of Californias farmlands., Flooded Tulare Lake, San Joaquin Valley, CA, 2023<p>Prior to the American settlement of California, Tulare Lake was the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. In the second half of the 19th century, the lake was dried up by diverting its tributary rivers for agricultural irrigation and municipal water uses. In 2023, we witnessed a rare reappearance of the lake due to unusually high levels of rainfall and snow melt. It contained rusting farm equipment, manure, and a toxic mix of agricultural chemicals and pesticides. It is sometimes referred to as a "phantom lake" or as the "lake that would not die.", Center of 1930s Dust Bowl, now Rita Blanca National Grasslands, south of Boise City, OK, 2023<p>The American Dust Bowl of the 1930s was one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the United States. Due to poor farming practices, more than 75% of the topsoil was blown away by the end of the decade. By 1938, a massive conservation effort by the Federal Government had greatly reduced the amount of blowing soil. The government bought up failed cropland and the Soil Conservation Service restored the eroded farmland. Later it created many National Grasslands such as Rita Blanca to preserve the soil. But for a long time, the land still failed to yield a decent living. Between 1930 and 1940, about 3.5 million people moved out of the Plains states. In just over a year, over 86,000 people migrated to California. The Dust Bowl was a human made environmental disaster involving water and land use. We are currently draining the Ogallala aquifer that has made agriculture possible in the dry part of the Southern Great Plains. If this continues, we could produce a second human made catastrophe in this same place. It is already happening in some areas but will be more widespread in the next 20 to 30 years. It may have harmful consequences to agriculture in the mid-West and the economic cost could ripple throughout our economy. It could also devastate the communities of the Southern Great Plains and possibly create a new wave of environmental refugees like the Okies fleeing the Dust Bowl of the 1930s., The results of fire, salvage logging, flooding and a massive landslide that closed Highway 50, American River near Whitehall, CA, 1997<p>Parts of California and the American West have environments that naturally burn with ecosystems that have evolved with fire as an essential part of habitat vitality and renewal. Continuing climate change will cause the Wests forests to burn larger, hotter, faster, and more frequently. As seen in the recent fires in Los Angeles, development in fire prone places will significantly increase property damage and human suffering., Two scientists discussing the demise and restoration of California's salmon, Sacramento River, CA, 1997<p>Massive and coordinated efforts have been undertaken by federal, state, and local governments to help restore the Sacramento Valleys famous but threatened salmon run. Unfortunately, due in part to an extreme drought in 2021, over 12,000 spring Chinook salmon, almost the entire population, died in creeks off the Sacramento River before spawning. Recent PG&E hydroelectric projects and other water diversions are additional factors in stopping the restoration of the wild Chinooks in the Sacramento River. Local activists are currently conducting a crowdfunding campaign to help buy additional water rights for the threatened ecosystems., Japanese bridge, Iceland, 2004<p>Icelands famous Blue Lagoon spa is in a lava field on the actively volcanic Reykjanes Peninsula. It is supplied by water used in the nearby Svartsengi geothermal power station. The steam from that station is shown here and the spa is right next door. The power station was the worlds first geothermal power plant for electric power generation and hot water production for urban use. Most of the heating in Iceland comes from geothermal power. Natural hot water was used to heat roughly 90% of all buildings in Iceland., Wastewater treatment with algae, San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant, San Jose, CA<p>Victor Hugo in Les Miserables states: The sewer is the conscience of the city. Everything there converges and confronts everything else. In that livid spot there are shades, but there are no longer any secrets. Imagine a world where there is no sewage treatment. Without it, our lives would be like the disease-ridden, foul-smelling world of the early nineteenth-century cities of Europe and America. At that time the modern ideas of the origins of infectious disease began. Coupled with this was the beginning of the great sanitation movement that changed the ways we treat waste. These improvements helped extend the average lifespan in the twentieth century by an astonishing thirty-five years. Our contemporary wastewater treatment plants are a continuation of that nineteenth-century movement. In 2009-2010, I was commissioned by the City of San Jose to be their first Photographer-in-Residence at the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant. Like ancient Rome or Angkor Wat, our contemporary culture was made possible by a vast system of water delivery and sewage treatment to maintain our large population. Failure to sustain water infrastructures has been a telltale indicator of societal decline and stagnation..