Farmer Lifeways and the Lived Experience of Adaptation to Water Policy Change in Idaho's Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Region

Abstract

Anthropologists developed the lifeways construct to understand how communities make a way of life on certain landscapes. In this paper, we pair the lifeways construct with that of “lived experiences” to include processes of change in lifeways. Using a case study of farmers in Idaho's Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer region, we explore farmers' efforts to adapt to changes in agricultural water policy. Based on interviews with farmers, we identify several components of farmers' lifeways, including place-based identity, stewardship, trust in decision-makers, and financial well-being. Our findings suggest that the relationships between farmers and their landscapes are shifting as a result of water governance changes. When combined with dynamic global economic factors, ever-shifting regulatory and governance priorities and social-ecological changes are likely to continue producing new and interacting challenges to which farmers—and their lifeways—will need to adapt to survive.