Day 133: Wheat, Water and the Yaqui Valley
On the family's wheat farm in the Yaqui Valley near Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Epifanio (A), a grandfather who has grown wheat all his life, argues with his grandson Luis Fernando (B), an agronomy student, about how water should be shared between farms and cities; the Oviáchic is the valley's biggest dam, and the módulo is the local farmers' irrigation association.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Spanish word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Spanish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Me contó tu mamá que andas diciendo en la universidad que los del valle desperdiciamos el agua. ¿Es cierto, mijo?
Your mom told me you're going around the university saying that those of us in the valley waste water. Is that true, my boy?
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B
No lo digo yo, abuelo, sino el profesor de hidrologÃa: con el riego rodado se pierde casi la mitad del agua.
It's not me saying it, Grandpa, it's our hydrology professor: with flood irrigation almost half the water is lost.
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A
¿Y tu profesor ha visto alguna vez la presa del Oviáchic seca? Yo sÃ, y dos inviernos me quedé sin sembrar.
And has your professor ever seen the Oviáchic dam dry? I have, and two winters I couldn't sow a thing.
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B
Por eso mismo: los expertos vienen advirtiendo que las sequÃas se van a agravar, y por ley el consumo humano va primero.
That's exactly why: experts have been warning that the droughts are going to get worse, and by law people's drinking water comes first.
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A
Nadie les niega el agua a las familias. Pero en la última sequÃa nos aseguraron que alcanzarÃa, y los primeros recortes fueron para el campo.
Nobody's denying families their water. But in the last drought they assured us there'd be enough, and the first cuts fell on the farms.
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B
Entonces el enemigo no es la ciudad, sino los canales sin revestir: vienen perdiendo agua desde que usted era niño.
So the enemy isn't the city, it's the unlined canals: they've been losing water since you were a boy.
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A
Ahà sà le atinaste. Lo propuse en la asamblea del módulo, y me dijeron que revestirlos costarÃa una fortuna.
Now you've hit the nail on the head. I proposed it at the módulo's meeting, and they told me lining them would cost a fortune.
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B
Pues déjeme hacer mi tesis en su parcela: con datos sobre la filtración, a ver quién le dice que no.
Then let me do my thesis on your plot: with data on how much seeps away, let's see who says no to you.
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A
Órale, pero si tu profesor se equivocó, que él ponga la carne asada.
All right, but if your professor got it wrong, he's paying for the barbecue.
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