From an article today in a local paper:
Phoenix was built on the remains of an ancient Hohokam city. When the first settlers arrived, they built their farms around irrigation canals the Hohokam left behind, but they were at the mercy of the Salt river.
In the early 1900s, the farmers got together, and, with the help of the government, built a dam (Roosevelt Dam) to harness the Salt River that runs through Phoenix.The canals soon had a system of irrigation ditches called laterals, which linked farms and homes to the main canals.
For a time, they were such a vital part of life in the Valley that people gave their lateral number rather than their street address. Today, about 24,000 people still irrigate their lawns and gardens (we often see these agricultural properties as we ride along the canals).
Although gravity does a lot of the work, it takes a person to operate the gates and valves in the system; they’re called zanjeros*, “Another word for it would be ditch rider, or irrigator,” said Patrick Krause, a zanjero for Salt River Project.
In the old days, the ditch riders made their rounds on horseback. Now they drive SRP trucks and keep track of deliveries on a computer.
* ZANJERO is one in charge of water distribution from zanjas.The zanjero was once the most powerful man in any community, entrusted with overseeing its most valuable resource. The expressions most likely came from early Spanish settlers in the SW United States
A zanja ("water ditch" or "trench") is an archaic irrigation system used in the southwestern United States and that word still occurs in various place names as a relic of that time.
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