The Arroyo Abatement project took place at the Double Diamond Ranch, 8 miles North of Cuba, New
Mexico, in June 2010. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, and approved by the Rio Puerco Alliance, the objective
was to restore the property from the ravaging effects of water erosion caused by
deforestation practices in the surrounding area. At the Head Cut, or leading edge of the
arroyo, approx. 25 feet of land had been eroding away each year. The restoration processes
revealed how the arroyo abatement project became a metaphor for the human narrative of trauma and renewal.