Reno News and Review Cover story - November 21, 2002: "The waterscape. Not just the Truckee River, but all the canals, ditches and weirs where a dam diverts water from the river, such as at the Arlington Avenue Bridge. You have the Orr Ditch, Highline Ditch, Steamboat Ditch, Boynton Slough, all the ditches running past Verdi, the ditch system running off the Truckee that in theory is supposed to be freshening and regenerating Virginia Lake. Most of the ditches are relic features now, but they are a reminder of how dependent this area is on water and the manipulation of water. The waterscape says we live in the desert and that agriculture was an incredibly important part of early life in Reno, and we abandoned that at great cost. We stop paying attention to water, and pretty soon we have planners saying, 'Oh, we don't have a water problem in Reno. We figure we've got plenty of water until, say, 2030.'"