THE WATER JUDGE

Synopsis

The valley elected Ives Marchbank water judge in a year of good snow, when the job meant riding the ditches in the spring and writing down what was already true. He has held it nine years on the strength of one habit. He goes and looks. He measures the head gate himself, in the dark if that is when he gets there, and he has never signed a paper about ground he has not stood on. This year the melt comes in at a third. The law says first in time, first in right, and the oldest right on the Sabinal belongs to a man Marchbank has never liked and cannot honestly rule against.

Who this is about

Ives Marchbank rides the Sabinal valley as its water judge, a job nobody wanted, and he has kept the ditches honest for nine years without once drawing on a man.

What goes wrong

The snowmelt comes in at a third of normal, so for the first time a ruling of his can be lawful or it can be fair, and the valley knows the difference.

What's at stake

Every allotment he signs puts one family through the winter and finishes another, and the men he ruins will still be his neighbors in the spring.

Why it keeps going

The river drops another inch each week, so every ruling narrows the ground under the next one, and no man in the valley will accept a second hearing.

Takeaway

A fair man with a shrinking thing to divide runs out of fairness long before he runs out of the thing.

Shelves

Themes

Story, in the creator's words

Not provided yet

Style

Not provided yet

Characters

Not provided yet

Tech stack

Not provided yet

Schedule

Not provided yet

Production plan

Not provided yet