Water in Spain and "New Spain"
As I hinted a few days ago, there are some remarkable parallels between the historical geographies of water in the country ("State") of Spain and the state of New Mexico. I credit the information on Spain to a colleague in anthropology at McGill University (call him Ismael; no, really). See back a couple of posts but Ismael's "Modernizing mountain water" appears in the co-edited volume Water, Place, and Equity (MIT Press, 2008)*, and is focused on the transformation of Pyrenean water use and its governance, largely on the Spanish side. I have put in a coarse table to outline the parallels between Spain's legal history on water and those of New Mexico.
Table - NM by author, Spain from Vaccaro 2008 (230)
TIME LINE
New Mexico
Pre 1860 Kearney Code/little state meddling
1860-90 Territorial statutes; little enforcement
1890-1911 First earnest territorial, and state water codes
1911-1932 State Engineer's Office begins// large dams
1932-36 New Deal infrastructure/water projects
1939-1980 Dam expansion, irrigation projects, hydropower
1980-present Adjudication era, water transfer, urbanization of water
Spain
Pre 1860 Absence of public involvement
1860-90 Early leg. attempts by the liberal state
1890-1911 Water reaches central role in culture/politics
1911-1932 Institutionalization of management; first systematic projects
1932-36 Implementation and expansion with social emphasis
1939-1980 Irrigation, hydropower and development. Autocracy
1980-present New uses/priorities/old conflicts/democracy & legislation
There are obvious, and serious, differences between these eras of water management and policies but what strikes are the strong, corollary, parallels. The New Mexico water code of 1905 (later 1907 - .pdf) aligns nicely with Spain's 1905 Law of small irrigations works (though Spain's have changed of course - .pdf). Dam building was roughly in the same span of time, 1930s-1980s, though they started earlier in the U.S. on the federal end, and ended earlier than in Spain. Where the strongest match occurs is the scale of water governance, especially in the 1900-1930 phase, as water moves from the local domain of governance in NM and ESP, acequias, and becomes a "regional, institutionalized" realm of knowledge and governance control.
Key differences would have to include the timing, and scale (space), of "protected areas" in New Mexico and Spain. For NM, as a 'territory,' most of the protected areas were founded on the back of usurped land grants from the Spanish and Mexican periods. These were strategically founded during the period of early and aggressive dam-building projects in the territory (and state) of NM. In Spain, dams and extensive irrigation works came first, and only later in the last third of the 20th century was the push "on" to designate montane areas as "protected" as natural parks or national ones. In both cases, however, these protected areas were largely a transfer from a communal type of institution (land grants/communities, respectively) to "public ownership" (the state/the State, respectively). I'll leave you with a quote from Vaccaro (2008, 237) that illustrates the strong parallels between 1900-1960:
"The reasons for such acquisitions and expropriations were essentially the same throughout this extended period of time: to protect the watershed from erosion and foster scientifically regulated reforestation...The forest department had become entrenched with water policies by virtue of having the responsibility of protecting the watersheds from erosion."
So much like the designation of national forest preserves in the Jemez/Carson/S.Fe forests, for dam/sediment protection, so too Spain was thinking along the same lines.
Bottom line: Conservation, in the early 20th century, was also code for expropriation (of land/water) in both New Mexico and Spain. -epp
Next time: Bolivia and New Mexico?
*citation: Vaccaro, I. 2008. Modernizing mountain water. In Water, Place, & Equity, eds Whiteley, Ingram and Perry, pp. 225-248. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Table - NM by author, Spain from Vaccaro 2008 (230)
TIME LINE
New Mexico
Pre 1860 Kearney Code/little state meddling
1860-90 Territorial statutes; little enforcement
1890-1911 First earnest territorial, and state water codes
1911-1932 State Engineer's Office begins// large dams
1932-36 New Deal infrastructure/water projects
1939-1980 Dam expansion, irrigation projects, hydropower
1980-present Adjudication era, water transfer, urbanization of water
Spain
Pre 1860 Absence of public involvement
1860-90 Early leg. attempts by the liberal state
1890-1911 Water reaches central role in culture/politics
1911-1932 Institutionalization of management; first systematic projects
1932-36 Implementation and expansion with social emphasis
1939-1980 Irrigation, hydropower and development. Autocracy
1980-present New uses/priorities/old conflicts/democracy & legislation
There are obvious, and serious, differences between these eras of water management and policies but what strikes are the strong, corollary, parallels. The New Mexico water code of 1905 (later 1907 - .pdf) aligns nicely with Spain's 1905 Law of small irrigations works (though Spain's have changed of course - .pdf). Dam building was roughly in the same span of time, 1930s-1980s, though they started earlier in the U.S. on the federal end, and ended earlier than in Spain. Where the strongest match occurs is the scale of water governance, especially in the 1900-1930 phase, as water moves from the local domain of governance in NM and ESP, acequias, and becomes a "regional, institutionalized" realm of knowledge and governance control. 
Key differences would have to include the timing, and scale (space), of "protected areas" in New Mexico and Spain. For NM, as a 'territory,' most of the protected areas were founded on the back of usurped land grants from the Spanish and Mexican periods. These were strategically founded during the period of early and aggressive dam-building projects in the territory (and state) of NM. In Spain, dams and extensive irrigation works came first, and only later in the last third of the 20th century was the push "on" to designate montane areas as "protected" as natural parks or national ones. In both cases, however, these protected areas were largely a transfer from a communal type of institution (land grants/communities, respectively) to "public ownership" (the state/the State, respectively). I'll leave you with a quote from Vaccaro (2008, 237) that illustrates the strong parallels between 1900-1960:"The reasons for such acquisitions and expropriations were essentially the same throughout this extended period of time: to protect the watershed from erosion and foster scientifically regulated reforestation...The forest department had become entrenched with water policies by virtue of having the responsibility of protecting the watersheds from erosion."
So much like the designation of national forest preserves in the Jemez/Carson/S.Fe forests, for dam/sediment protection, so too Spain was thinking along the same lines.
Bottom line: Conservation, in the early 20th century, was also code for expropriation (of land/water) in both New Mexico and Spain. -epp
Next time: Bolivia and New Mexico?
*citation: Vaccaro, I. 2008. Modernizing mountain water. In Water, Place, & Equity, eds Whiteley, Ingram and Perry, pp. 225-248. Cambridge: MIT Press.
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