Barley Dreams:In Arizona's Verde Valley, swapping water-guzzling crops for barley may keep the Verde River from running dry.

摘要

Kim Schonek stands at the edge of the barley field, keeping a wary eye out for a rattlesnake she saw nearby the other day. The soft, green barley stands chest-high, swaying in the warm winds of the Verde Valley. In another week, it'll begin to dry outunder the June Arizona sun."Soon if 11 be amber waves of grain," she says with a smirk. Everyone makes that joke around here, in the small town of Camp Verde. Barley, in this region full of alfalfa and field corn, has lately become the talk of the town.Camp Verde sits in the middle of the Verde Valley of Arizona, a semi-arid stretch of farmland, vineyards and horse country north of Phoenix and south of Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. Its lifeblood, the 190-mile Verde River, cuts a lush path through the desert valley on its way to meet the Salt River, which in turn provides a portion of the drinking water to fast-growing Phoenix.