75 Coachella

75 Coachella
At the height of the grape harvest in the Coachella Valley many workers bathe after work in irrigation canals and drainage ditches. The growers and government authorities do not provide housing with bathing facilities for seasonal grape pickers. Two workers from Mexicali, on the US border 100 miles to the south, clean up in irrigation water in a ditch emptying into the Salton Sea. The water contains pesticides and fertilizer runoff.

photographs and stories by David Bacon © 1990-1999

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