Changing Patterns and Perceptions of Water Use In
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CHANGING PATTERNS AND PERCEPTIONS OF WATER USE IN EAST CENTRAL TEXAS SINCE THE TIME OF ANGLO SETTLEMENT A Dissertation by WENDY WINBORN PATZEWITSCH Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2007 Major Subject: Geography CHANGING PATTERNS AND PERCEPTIONS OF WATER USE IN EAST CENTRAL TEXAS SINCE THE TIME OF ANGLO SETTLEMENT A Dissertation by WENDY WINBORN PATZEWITSCH Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Jonathan M. Smith Committee Members, Peter J. Hugill Christian Brannstrom Bradford P. Wilcox Head of Department, Douglas J. Sherman May 2007 Major Subject: Geography iii ABSTRACT Changing Patterns and Perceptions of Water Use in East Central Texas Since the Time of Anglo Settlement. (May 2007) Wendy Winborn Patzewitsch, B.A., Trinity University; M.S., Southern Methodist University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Jonathan M. Smith Patterns and perceptions of water use have changed since Anglo settlement in Texas in the early nineteenth century. Change has not been constant, gradual, or linear, but rather has occurred in fits and spurts. This pattern of punctuated equilibrium in water use regimes is the central finding of this dissertation. Water use is examined in terms of built, organizational, and institutional inertias that resist change in the cultural landscape. Change occurs only when forced by crisis and results in water management at an increasing scale. Perception is critical in forcing response to crisis. Four water use regimes are identified. The agrarian regime was characterized by individual family and plantation units that were self-sufficient in their water supply. Water was perceived as abundant, but used sparingly. The agrarian regime began with Texas’s declaration of independence from Mexico in 1836 and lasted for the remainder of the nineteenth century. The waterworks regime was characterized by the introduction of piped water. During this second regime, water was still perceived as abundant, but was also taken for granted. The crisis forcing the waterworks regime was the need for better fire protection in cities. The almost constant threat of flood and drought, iv underscored by the Drought of the 1950s, in conjunction with a demographic shift, brought about the dam and levee regime. As a consequence of the Drought of the 1950s, water was for the first time perceived as scarce. We have just entered the groundwater regime. Recent water legislation and a state supreme court decision in favor of a bottled water company are putting new emphasis on groundwater sales from rural property owners to municipal water companies. Empirical studies supporting this theoretical framework are drawn from the heretofore unpublished 1868 journal of Pleasant B. Watson, from municipal bond records in the archives of the Texas Comptroller, from the early history of the waterworks at Bryan, Texas, from newly discovered records of a levee along the Brazos River, from an overview of dam and reservoir construction, and from a recent proliferation of groundwater districts. v DEDICATION To my parents vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Acknowledgments are due first to my advisor, Jonathan M. Smith, who introduced me to the literature of historical geography and geographic thought. His logic, organizational and editing skills, respect for the literature, and appreciation for the richness of archival data are his distinctive and much appreciated imprint upon this dissertation. I am also grateful that he agreed to supervise a dissertation about Texas water resources. Many others are due recognition, especially Peter Hugill, the senior member of my committee, for our shared fascination with the levees of Burleson County, and my other committee members, Brad Wilcox, Christian Brannstrom, and Rob Dull. My sincere gratitude is extended to those who guided me through a seemingly endless amount of archival material on Texas water resources—all the while sharing their ideas, enthusiasm, and expertise—especially Anne McGaugh and Shawn Carlson of the Star of the Republic Museum in Washington, Texas for access to the journal of Pleasant B. Watson and for their thoughtful suggestions; Bill Page and Kathy Weimer of the Evans Library at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas for eagerly donating time, resources, and expertise; Nan Ross and the staff of the Carnegie Library in Bryan, Texas for help accessing records from both Brazos County and the City of Bryan; Lisa Lee of the Map Room in the Burleson County Courthouse in Caldwell, Texas whose enthusiasm for Burleson County is contagious; Jenny Spurrier and the staff of the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas for help with the archives of the Center for Historic Preservation and Technology and its predecessor vii programs at Texas Tech University; and Ellen Kuniyuki Brown of the Texas Collection at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I am also indebted to T. Lindsay Baker, Craig Colten, Clarissa Kimber, Martin Melosi, and Todd Votteler for their time, suggestions, and comments; as well as Ric Jensen of the Texas Water Resources Institute at Texas A&M University in College Station for encouraging a qualitative geographical dissertation about water. John Anderson, preservation officer for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin, Texas, was instrumental in the restoration of J.C. Nagle’s map and five levee profiles from the Burleson County Improvement District No. 1, included at the end of this dissertation as Plates 1 through 6. Grateful acknowledgment is made for unexpected sources of financial support— all with ties to Texas A&M University. My longtime friend Judy Paine-Marshall used the auspices of the Hollis Marshall Foundation to contribute to my geographic library in memory of her late Texas Aggie husband (Hollis Marshall, Class of 1954). The books acquired with this funding will, in time, be passed on to future graduate students. I also received financial support from the Association of Former Students, the Texas Water Resources Institute through the Mills Scholarship Program, and the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University. On a more personal note, thanks go to my friends and family. From A&M’s Department of Geography, fellow graduate students Serena Aldrich, Zheng Cheng, Jose Gavinha, and Xu Zengwang were always a welcomed sight in the O&M viii Building and around campus as each of us pursued our studies. Sincere best wishes to each of these fellow Aggies. A very personal acknowledgment is made to my parents whose excitement about world travels and their work with the Dallas Committee for Foreign Visitors brought an almost endless caravan of delightful foreign visitors to our dinner table. Their curiosity, insights, and wonderment about other places were instrumental in cultivating my interest in geography. Then, finally, my son gave me a valuable insight into the concept of scale. My parents introduced me to people and places far away, but my son opened my eyes to Texas and Texans in my own backyard. And to a special friend … pause. To all of these, I owe a sincere debt of gratitude. Words seem inadequate, but— thank you, thank you, thank you! ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT........................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ....................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................ xii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. xiv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 The Geography of Water Supply.................................................... 5 The Geography of Water Supply in Texas..................................... 6 General History of Water Demand................................................. 8 Texas Water Use Regimes and Why They Changed ..................... 11 II AMERICAN HISTORICAL ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY. 17 Environmental Geography Is Historical......................................... 23 Environmental Geography Is Political ........................................... 30 Environmental Geography Is Technological.................................. 38 Environmental Geography Is Cultural ........................................... 43 III THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK...................................................... 51 Change and Causality..................................................................... 52 Resistance to Change ..................................................................... 59 The Structure of Water Regimes.................................................... 64 The Sequence of Water Regimes ................................................... 71 IV THE AGRARIAN REGIME .............................................................. 76 Challenge and Response................................................................. 76 x CHAPTER Page Historical Processes.......................................................................