1993 Photo Contest, Oskar Barnack Award, Individual awards
Photographer

Eugene Richards

Magnum Photos for Audubon Magazine

01 January, 1992

The two-stroke pumps which have replaced traditional irrigation devices drain lakes and rivers ten times as fast. The Hadeija-Nguru wetlands are in danger of drying up. Irrigation projects of successive governments may spell the end of the traditional life-style of these people, who are dependent on the river for their drinking water, their baths and their laundry. Virtually all rain falls in August and September. It allows fish to breed, cattle to graze and farmers to grow crops. Diverting water to irrigate desert margins elsewhere could turn these wetlands into a dust bowl.

About the photographer

Eugene Richards

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