“Industrialized agriculture is destroying this place,” says George Whitten, president of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District. Standing in the pastures on his 1,600-hectare (4,000-acre ranch) in Saguache County, Whitten explains the district’s land-fallowing plan in which up to 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres) will be taken out of production to protect one of the valley’s aquifers.