"A Question of Balance" by Photographer Elliot Ross

"Based in rural Southern Utah, Ross's practice centres on long-form projects that examine how landscapes shape community and culture, the struggle for Indigenous self-determination, and cultural flashpoints in opposing Western American values. The Navajo Nation is the largest Native reservation in the United States. The Diné (Navajo) do not take water for granted as more than 1 in 3 have to haul water long distances to their rural homes."

"The contrast reflects not only inequities of power and access across rural and racial lines; it also carries a warning. With record breaking temperatures becoming the norm around the world, bureaucratic flaws are compounded by tremendous population growth, competing values, and deadlocked disputes. For the first time in over a century, the federal government is drafting a new plan that promises to set the world's most litigated river system on a sustainable path and include meaningful tribal input."

"This project is close to home-living between the two communities in my daily life, I too rely on the same water which I enjoy safely, cheaply and reliably. As an artist and journalist, I feel compelled to expose the inequities my Indigenous neighbors face. To be clear, Washington County isn't the cause of the Navajo Nation's thirst. The water gap is an enduring legacy of Manifest Destiny;"

The Navajo Nation faces severe water access shortages, with more than one in three households hauling water long distances and being 67 times more likely to lack running water than the average American. Nearby Utah's Washington County relies on the same supply yet pays less, reflecting racial and rural inequities. Record-breaking temperatures, population growth, and bureaucratic flaws intensify scarcity and disputes. The federal government is drafting a new century-defining plan aiming for sustainable management and meaningful tribal input, but Indigenous communities remain deeply skeptical due to a history of broken promises and enduring legacies of Manifest Destiny.

Read at BOOOOOOOM!