The Whitten ranch lies at an elevation of 7000 to 8000 feet (2130 to 2440 meters), surrounded by two of the West’s most dramatic mountain ranges (the San Juan and Sangre de Cristo ranges), and comprising the headwaters of the vast Rio Grande watershed. The San Luis Valley is a microcosm of everything that’s “complicated” about water. At the soil surface, a whopping 7” (180 mm) of precipitation settles in an average year. Under natural conditions, most of the valley is a high altitude, very cold semi-desert with about a 90-day growing season. Beneath the soil surface, a shallow, vast underground aquifer, made possible by a unique geology and underground flows from the surrounding mountain ranges, supports a state-of-the-art agricultural industry based on center pivot sprinkler irrigation and high dollar (and high input) potato farming.
Surface flows from creeks that cascade out of the mountains, and from canals diverted out of the Rio Grande itself, are the backbone of the valley’s haying and cattle/sheep ranching industry. Through the practice of Holistic Management the Whitten Ranch has become resilient in this tough environment by questioning traditional practices in order to sustain traditional lifestyles.