Agricultural Economy of the Laguna Region

A LARGE, rather irregular shaped basin surrounded by arid ranges forms the Laguna Region, which lies between 25? 30' and 26? 20' north latitude and 102? and 104? west longitude. Approximately 125 miles north of the Tropic of Cancer, it straddles the states of Durango and Coahuila. Covering a vast expanse of level ground, it extends on both sides of the Nazas River from 24 miles southwest of the city of Torre6n to the depression of the Laguna de Mayran in the east; from the river Aguanaval in the south to the Tlahualilo section in the north. These two rivers which traverse the region make agriculture possible in this semi-arid basin. Agriculture is by far the most important activity in the Laguna Region. Land is fertile and water is available. The amount of water delivered into the Laguna Area is greater than that at any other place in the interior basins of northern Mexico. This is, therefore, the natural basis for the greatest irrigated district in the northern plateau. The run-off from the 30,000 square miles of mountains, the greatest area of high mountains in the northern plateau, is accumulated and carried down by two rivers, the Nazas and the Aguanaval. The water is then distributed by a network of canals over the plain. Of the two streams mentioned, the most important is the Nazas. It has a large basin impounding a great deal of water which makes it the main supply of the precious liquid upon which depends the prosperity of the Region. It is more or less seasonally regular in its volume of water and is regular in its inundation. The same cannot be said of the Aquanaval whose floods are scarce and extremely irregular. This river is of a torrential nature but the variation in its drainage is even greater than that of the Nazas. Sometimes its bed is dry for two, three, or even four years causing ruin to the fields in the region it affects. Very few studies have been made of the Aguanaval but it can be said that in years of abundant water as much as 20,000 acres may be irrigated. The run-off from the Nazas varies in volume, in time of arrival, and in continuance of flow, having dry, medium, and abundant years. The river bed is usually dry, the flood waters beginning during the last days of June or later and lasting until October, the greatest volume usually being in August or September. Occasionally the water flows until November or later, but when this happens, the volume is small. When the capacity of all the canals is insufficient to fully distribute the run-off, the surplus water flows into the Laguna de Mayran located twelve miles below San Pedro. This water is lost as the excess waters have never been used to any advantage nor are there any means of using them at the present time. There is enough land, much more than enough to utilize the largest amount of water yet recorded for any one year. In spite of this, the water loss is 12 per cent of the total volume drained. The just and fair distribution among the different sectors of the Region which have the right to this water constitutes a problem of vital importance. The main irrigation net is

Agricultural economics · Agricultural economy · Agriculture · Archaeology · Business · Economic geography · Economics · Economy · Geography · Plant and soil sciences

• Taos Pueblo

  Open Access•Leo-Paul Dana, Leo Paul Dana et al.•Journal of Enterprising…•2007

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