Agriculture in Bajo Colorado
When the Regression hit, Bajo Colorado immediattely saw dividends. While most of the major dams remained intact, nowhere near the amount of water previously consumed could be used, leading to most of it "uselessly" being discharged downriver. Gradually, the Colorado Delta began to recover its ancient ecology. Deer, beavers, even jaguars returned to the newly verdant country. Almost as soon as they did, humans followed to take advantage. Soon enough, they were practicing primitive horticultural practices in addition to hunter-gathering.
Prior to the Colorado Deluge and the Judgement of Vegas, Colorado was divided into a number of chiefdoms. These chiefs organized intensive agriculture in the delta, and facilitated traders coming from the north along the Colorado and from the south from the Sea of Cortez. Agriculture had to be extremely intensive in the swamps of the Colorado delta - they were constantly doing battle with the shifting coastlines, trying to shape the land but withot damaging the delicate hydrological and ecological system upon which their lifestyle. They developed subtle and ingenious techniques to maintain the necessary balance, centrally organized by the local chiefs and overseen by the priests of the Santa Muerte prior to the region's conversion to Mexican Catholicism.
Despite the high level of centralization and sophistication, the chiefdoms of antediluvian Bajo Colorado never managed to reach the heights of true hydraulic empires. Increasingly, the growth of New Mexico and Vegas lowered the amount of water received in the delta - it was still well above industrial-era levels, of course, but lower than what Bajo had received earlier in the new middle ages. Further, Vegas and New Mexico even attempted to exercise outright control over Bajo. Vegas was constantly extending its feelers down the Colorado to gain total control over the river, while the New Mexicans launched invasions from the Gila Valley. Even sea-raiders came out of the Sea of Cortez and would occasionally rule over the towns of the region. The loyalties of the chiefs constantly shifted as the situation permitted, but the influence of these outsiders was universally resented.
Things changed drastically after the Deluge. When, despite the best efforts of the sage engineers of Sin City, the great dam of Glen Canyon collapsed, the waters surged down the Colorado, wiping out cities, destroying the dams that had long tamed the mighty Colorado. Initially, of course, the delta got the worst of it. Entire cities were wiped away, uncountable deaths.
And yet, the delta was once again verdant. It was restored to nearly pre-industrial levels, fertilized with the silt and blood of Vegas's lost empire. New chiefs emerged out of the shepherd tribes of the surrounding highlands. With the help of the priesthood who now stood in a position of total spirital dominance, Bajo Colorado was rebuilt.
There are few free farmers in Bajo Colorado. The intensive terraforming and dam-building regimens of the earlier Bajo Coloradans was replicated as best as could be. Peasants work vast collective farm in a form of corvee labor, overseen by minor nobles responsible for each plot of land. Corns, beans, and squash are of course grown in proliferation - however, there is another more unusual crop: Saltweed.
Native to the delta, Saltweed is a very special plant. It is incredibly tolerant of high salinity water, which makes it ideal for the more brackish and coastal regions of the delta. It can even be frown with ocean water. Cultivated saltweed can have a yield up to 2000 kilograms per hectare, comparing favorably to wheat and barley. Further, its salt secretion actually allows for some limited salt harvesting, giving the Bajites some extra income. It is
the staple crop of Bajo Colorado. Indeed, following the Deluge and Bajo Colorado's rise from a minor set of chiefdoms into a proper polity that bears the occasional headache aong the courtesans of the mighty hydraulic empires, saltweed has begun to become a staple cross the west. Carried by the priesthood, the infertile coasts of Baja Colorado and the Sea of Cortez have been introduced to this curious new crop, and traders to the north and west are trying to sell Californian and New Mexican farmers on these magic beans. Saltweed may well prove to be Bajo Colorado's greatest contribution to the civilizations of the Southwest - indeed, it may prove to be the desert's greatest gift to the world.