For centuries, Rarámuri have sustained themselves as subsistence farmers utilizing the springs, arroyos, and rivers that carved their ancestral canyons. Logging, development, and climate change are now threatening the Rarámuri’s water resources and very survival. Water pollution has led to increasing water-borne diseases. As a result, Rarámuri communities have some of the highest infant mortality rates on the continent.

The good news is that there is plenty of water in the canyons to sustain the Rarámuri. the Copper Canyon Alliance partners with Rarámuri schools and communities to build water reservoirs and install gravity-fed water and irrigations systems. Clean water saves lives and enables the Rarámuri to continue growing food and protecting their ancestral lands.