"They pray for rain these days across a drought-stricken American west. The very idea – a light shower, even an inch of rain – fills Walter Dasheno with dread. Dasheno is the governor of the Santa Clara pueblo, a Native American community living just below a canyon of the same name."
"The survival of the tiny village is mapped out on the computer projections Dasheno keeps in his office. An inch or so of rain could damage or wash away the first three homes on the edge of the pueblo. A monster storm could unleash a flood that would take out the administration building where Dasheno and other tribe officials sit poring over their flood maps.
According to their computer projections, a flood of that size could also wipe out the school, a daycare centre for the elderly, and about 300 homes. Dasheno knows the country needs rain after a season of drought and wildfires, but it's a direct danger to his people."
Suzanne Goldenberg reports for the Guardian July 18, 2012.
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