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OverviewThe scarcity of surface water which has so marked the Great Plains is even more characteristic of its subdivision, the Texas High Plains. Settlers on the plateau were forced to use pump technology to tap the vast ground water resources—the underground rain—beneath its flat surface. The evolution from windmills to the modern high-speed irrigation pumps took place over several decades. Three phases characterized the movement toward irrigation. In the period from 1910 to 1920, large-volume pumping plants first appeared in the region, but, due to national and regional circumstances, these premature efforts were largely abortive. The second phase began as a response to the drouth of the Dust Bowl and continued into the 1950s. By 1959, irrigation had become an important aspect of the flourishing High Plains economy. The decade of the 1960s was characterized chiefly by a growing alarm over the declining ground water table caused by massive pumping, and by investigations of other water sources. Land of the Underground Rain is a study in human use and threatened exhaustion of the High Plains' most valuable natural resource. Ground water was so plentiful that settlers believed it flowed inexhaustibly from some faraway place or mysteriously from a giant underground river. Whatever the source, they believed that it was being constantly replenished, and until the 1950s they generally opposed effective conservation of ground water. A growing number of weak and dry wells then made it apparent that Plains residents were ""mining"" an exhaustible resource. The Texas High Plains region has been far more successful in exploiting its resource than in conserving it. The very success of its pump technology has produced its environmental crisis. The problem brought about by the threatened exhaustion of this resource still awaits a solution. This study is the first comprehensive history of irrigation on the Texas High Plains, and it is the first comprehensive treatment of the development of twentieth-century pump irrigation in any area of the United States. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Donald E. GreenPublisher: University of Texas Press Imprint: University of Texas Press Edition: New edition Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.90cm Weight: 0.454kg ISBN: 9780292746299ISBN 10: 0292746296 Pages: 326 Publication Date: 01 January 1973 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print  This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The Barrier to Settlement2. The Western Irrigation Movement and the Great Plains3. Water Resources of the Southern High Plains4. The Adaptation of Pump Irrigation Technology to the Great Plains5. Land Speculators and the Beginnings of Irrigation on the Texas High Plains, 1900-19106. The Land Speculator as a Promoter and Developer of Irrigation on the Texas High Plains7. Early Failure of Pump Irrigation, 1910-19208. Dust Bowl, New Deal, and the Revival of Irrigation9. The Expansion of Irrigation, 1940-196010. The Problem of Ground-Water Conservation11. The Contemporary High PlainsConclusionAppendixBibliographyIndexReviewsAuthor InformationDonald E. Green received his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma and has taught at Central State University in Oklahoma. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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