our bodies as/of water
our bodies as/of water was a two-part, two-day tour of Albuquerque's water cycle. The event featured a guided tour of the Albuquerque Southside Wastewater Reclamation Plant and a four-mile hike down the Arroyo Del Oso. Together we connected our own watery bodies to the bodies of water that we (human and more-than-human) all depend on.
For more information on Albuquerque's water system, please see the links at the bottom of this page.
For more information on Albuquerque's water system, please see the links at the bottom of this page.
remember the water in your body
feel it in the softness under your skin,
in the blood pulsing through your veins,
in your tears, saliva, and urine,
and breathe.
remember the water around you
feel it in the softness of the ground,
in the rivers, streams, and aqueducts,
in the rains, springs, and aquifers,
and breathe.
feel it in the softness under your skin,
in the blood pulsing through your veins,
in your tears, saliva, and urine,
and breathe.
remember the water around you
feel it in the softness of the ground,
in the rivers, streams, and aqueducts,
in the rains, springs, and aquifers,
and breathe.
As a community, in a space of presence--welcomed by poetry and open-heartedness--we were embedded in Albuquerque's Southside Wastewater Reclamation Plant (SWRP). We followed our water, diverted from the San Juan, pumped from the Rio Grande, passed through our bodies, merged with our feces, filtered through its river-like treatment process, back to its convergence with the Rio Grande. We felt UV rays disinfect the water. We met the micro-animals that had been in our bodies and now fed on our feces in massive tanks. We shared connections, observations, and presence. We meditated on movement at the convergence of ruddy Rio Grande and dark, clear SWRP discharge.
Next, we walked down the Arroyo Del Oso from the foothills of Turtle Mountain to the Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project where water pumped from our rivers is spread and infiltrated back down to our aquifer to be "pumped to the surface when needed" (ABCWUA). We followed old flows, roadrunners, and gravity through "open spaces" surrounded by million-dollar homes. We were temporarily dammed, channelized, tunneled, and released into terraced sandy beds. We shared time, space, stories, memories, joys, sorrows, and knowledges as we walked along our city's aqueous veins. Though we, like the water, were contained in these managed paths, we shared an openness, as wide and deep as the oceans this water's path directly connected us with.
photos by laura c carlson and nicholas b jacobsen
our bodies as/of water is an extension of the Land Arts of the American West exhibition, Thank You, I Love You, I'm Sorry
our bodies as/of water is an extension of the Land Arts of the American West exhibition, Thank You, I Love You, I'm Sorry
Further reading and research
Brief history of our nearest upriver dam
Interactive Albuquerque water cycle tours
Map of our arroyo and channel system
Effects of water of human civilization
Where does it all go after we flush the toilet or pull the plug on the drain?
printable pdfs
Tijeras Arroyo
Arroyo Del Oso and Arroyo Del Pino
Arroyo De Las Montoyas and Arroyo De Las Calabacillas
Boca Negra Canyon
Tijeras Arroyo
Arroyo Del Oso and Arroyo Del Pino
Arroyo De Las Montoyas and Arroyo De Las Calabacillas
Boca Negra Canyon
