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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />OiJ225Cj <br /> <br />IV -- THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS CASE STUDY <br />THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS BEFORE IRRIGAT~ON <br />What defines the "pre-irrigation" period? Earliest irrigation <br />began on the Texas South Plains in 1911 with completion of the <br />first irrigation well on the J. H. Slaton place four miles west <br />of Plainview, Hale County. It pumped 1,700 gallons per minute <br />from a depth of 130 feet. However, irrigation development pro~resserl <br />slowly thereafter, due to very inefficient pumping mechanics <br />and power units, and perhaps more importantly due to the lack of <br />sources of low-cost power for pumping. Even 33 years after the <br />first well was drilled, only 2,798 acres, one-half of one percent <br />of all cropland were under irri~ation in Hockley County, a <br />county later to be among the most productive and intensively <br />irrigated of the Texas High Plains. Therefore, we consider the <br />period before significant irrigation to extend at least through <br />1945, <br /> <br />History and Physiography <br />The history of the Texas South Plains is colorful and <br />fascinating, as is true of the early times in Southwest Kansas. <br />In fact, a glance at the entire region's geography suggests many <br />similarities between the two case study areas during the early <br />days of settlement, Both were strongly influenced by similar <br />climatic conditions -- typically rather harsh, with extremes of <br />heat and cold unlike coastal regions where climate is moderated <br />by the oceans. Both were strongly influenced by early cultural, <br /> <br />IV-l <br /> <br />Arthur D IJtlle.lnc <br />