Laserfiche WebLink
<br />:;;1 <br />,,'j <br />'~1, <br /> <br />",) <br />'l <br /> <br />.~ <br />-.:.-J <br /> <br />PREFACE <br /> <br />"'J <br /> <br />,~j, <br /> <br />Long before the coming of Coronado in 1540 the Pueblo Indians or their ancestors successfully <br />practiced irrigation on the Upper Rio Grande. <br />During the period of Spanish colonization in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth cen- <br />turies expansion occurred in those areas which could be protected from hostile Indians. <br />The period of intensive American development began in the latter decades of the nineteenth <br />century and was marked by a great increase in total land under cultivation. By the turn of the <br />century water shortages and misunderstandings between users in various parts of the river had <br />become common. Since then emphasis has had to be placed on equitable" distribution of the avail- <br />able water to the three states and two countries which share it. Storage dams were built which <br />allowed greater control. A treaty was ratified between Mexico and the United States in 1906 and <br />an Interstate Compact between Colorado, New Mexico, ~d Texas became effective in 1939. <br />, All computations had to be based on data from the relatively recent periods of record. Tree <br />ring evidence, however, indicates past dry periods of up to twenty five years. The influences of <br />modem man have also had dramatic effects on the delicate balances of nature. <br />Today we are still far from a basic understanding of the forces of nature and man operating on <br />the river. How far is clear in the present crisis of water shortage in all districts and economic <br />ruin in some. <br />At most this symposium represents a tiny step forward. If it provides a concept of the univer- <br />sality and gravity of the problems facing the entire watershed and leads to creative thought and <br />action by the residents of the river vaHey, it will have fulfilled its purpose. There are far-sighted <br />leaders in every district of the upper Rio Grande capable of solving the dilemma of the river if <br />they first have the collective will to seek out the basic root causes of the problems. <br />The development of this symposium and the publication of this book represents the combined <br />efforts of individual water users from all parts of the river and the co-operation of UNESCO, <br />AAAS, Texas Western College, Escuela Particular de Agricultura,New Mexico College of A,& M. A" <br />New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, University of New Mexico, New Mexico State En- <br />gineer, and the University of Colorado. By their action they have provided a small but signifi- <br />cant example of inter-river co-operation mutually beneficial to all. <br /> <br />-:; <br />i''p. <br /> <br />" <br />J <br />.:, <br />."f <br /> <br />~, <br /> <br />:.~ <br /> <br />Anton H. Berkman and Peter C. Duisberg, * Coclzairmen <br />U,S. Commission for Arid Resource Improvement and Development <br /> <br />.Dr. Duisberg ia a1ao chairman of the Dellert & Arid Zone Rellearch Committee, AAAS. Southwelltem & Rocky <br />Mountain Division. <br /> <br />J~12:~,9 <br />