The Spanish element in Texas water law is a matter of utmost importance to many landholders whose livelihood is dependent on securing water for irrigation and to many communities particularly concerned about water supply. Titles to some 280,000 acres of Texas land originated in grants made by the Crown of Spain or by the Republic of Mexico. For these lands, the prevailing law, even today, is the Hispanic American civil law. Thus the question of determining just what water rights were granted by the Spanish Crown in disposing of lands in Texas is more than a matter of historical interest. It is a subject of great practical importance. Spanish law enters directly into the question of these lands, but its influence is by no means confined to them. Texas water law in general traces its roots primarily to the Spanish law, not to the English common law doctrine of riparian rights or to the Western doctrine of prior appropriation (both of which were, however, eventually incorporated in Texas law). A clear understanding of this background might have saved the state much of the current confusion and chaos regarding its water law. Dobkins’s book offers an intensive and unusually readable study of the subject. The author has traced water law from its origin in the ancient world to the mid-twentieth century, interpreting the effect of water on the counties concerned, setting forth in detail the development of water law in Spain, and explaining its subsequent adoption in Texas. Copious notes and a complete bibliography make the work especially valuable. The idea for this book came in the midst of the great seven-year drought in Texas, from 1950 to 1957. The author gave two reasons for her study: “One was my belief that the water problems, crucial to all Texas, can be solved only when Texans become conscious of their imperative needs and only if they become informed and aroused enough to act. “The second reason came from a realization that water—common, universal, and ordinary as it is—had been overlooked by the historian. It is high time that this oversight be corrected. In American history the significance of land, especially in terms of the frontier, has been spelled out in large letters. The importance of water has been recognized by few.”

Water—or the lack of it—has shaped the contours of the American West and continues to dominate the region's development. From the incursions of the Spanish conquistadores to the dams of the New Deal era, humans have sought water in these arid lands as the key to survival and success. And as the West becomes more urbanized, water is an issue as never before. This book sets contemporary and often bitter debates over water in their historical contexts by examining some of the most contentious issues that have confronted the region over five centuries. Seventeen contributors—representing history, geography, ethnography, political science, law, and urban studies—provide an interdisciplinary perspective on the many dimensions of water in the West: Spanish colonial water law, Native American water rights, agricultural concerns, and dam building. A concluding essay looks toward the future by examining the impact of cities on water and of water marketing on the western economy. As farmers and ranchers from Kansas to California compete for water with powerful urban economies, the West will continue to be reshaped by this scarce and precious resource. Fluid Arguments clearly shows that many of the current disputes over water take place without a real appreciation for the long history of the debate. By shedding new light on how water allocation is established—and who controls it—this book makes a vital contribution to our understanding of water and growth in the region. CONTENTS Divining the Past: An Introduction / Char Miller Part 1. Land and Water on New Spain’s Frontiers 1. "Only Fit for Raising Stock": Spanish and Mexican Land and Water Rights in the Tamaulipan Cession / Jesús F. de la Teja 2. Water, the Gila River Pimas, and the Arrival of the Spanish / Shelly C. Dudley 3. "Between This River and That": Establishing Water Rights in the Chama Basin of New Mexico / Sandra K. Mathews-Lamb Part 2. The Native American Struggle for Water 4. Maggot Creek and Other Tales: Kiowa Identity and Water, 1870-1920 / Bonnie Lynn-Sherow 5. The Dilemmas of Indian Water Policy, 1887-1928 / Donald J. Pisani 6. First in Time: Tribal Reserved Water Rights and General Adjudications in New Mexico / Alan S. Newell 7. Winters Comes Home to Roost / Daniel McCool Part 3. Agricultural Conundrums 8. Water, Sun, and Cattle: The Chisholm Trail as an Ephemeral Ecosystem / James E. Sherow 9. Private Irrigation in Colorado’s Grand Valley / Brad F. Raley 10. A Rio Grande "Brew": Agriculture, Industry, and Water Quality in the Lower Rio Grande Valley / John P. Tiefenbacher 11. Specialization and Diversification in the Agricultural System of Southwestern Kansas, 1887-1980 / Thomas C. Schafer 12. John Wesley Powell Was Right: Resizing the Ogallala High Plains / John Opie Part 4. Dam those Waters! 13. Private Initiative, Public Works: Ed Fletcher, the Santa Fe Railway, and Phoenix’s Cave Creek Flood Control Dam / Donald C. Jackson 14. The Changing Fortunes of the Big Dam Era in the American West / Mark Harvey 15. Building Dams and Damning People in the Texas-Mexico Border Region: Mexico’s El Cuchillo Dam Project / Raúl M. Sánchez Part 5. The Coming Fight 16. Water and the Western Service Economy: A New Challenge / Hal K. Rothman

Hutchins, Wells A., Harold H. Ellis and J. Peter DeBraal. Water Rights Laws in the Nineteen Western States. [Washington, D.C.]: United States Department of Agriculture. [1971]. Three volumes. Reprint available July 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-414-2. Cloth. $350. * Rights to the use of water from surface and underground sources are often crucial in the seventeen contiguous Western states, Alaska and Hawaii. This work offers a comparative analysis of the development and status of the constitutional provisions, statutes, reported court decisions and administrative regulations, practices and policies regarding water rights laws in these states. The analysis considers the nature of these water rights and their acquisition, control, transfer, protection and loss. Federal, interstate and international matters are also discussed.

In this volume, Gordon Morris Bakken traces the distinctive development of western legal history. The contributors' essays provide succinct descriptions of major cases, legislation, and individual western states' constitutional provisions that are unique in the American legal system. To assist the reader, the volume is organized by subject, including natural resources, municipal authority, business regulation, American Indian sovereignty and water rights, women, and Mormons. Contributors are: Roy H. Andes, Dana Blakemore, Richard Griswold del Castillo, Susan Badger Doyle, James W. Ely, Jr., Brenda Gail Farrington, Dale D. Goble, Neil Greenwood, Vanessa Gunther, Louise A Halper, Claudia Hess, Kenneth Hough, Paul Kens, Shenandoah Grant Lynd, Thomas C. Mackey, Nicholas George Malavis, Timothy Miller, Danelle Moon, Andrew P. Morriss, Keith Pacholl, Laurie Caroline Pintar, Michael A. Powell, Ion Puschilla, Emily Rader, Peter L. Reich, John Phillip Reid, Lucy E. Salyer, Susan Sanchez, Janet Schmelzer, Howard Shorr, Paul Reed Spitzzeri, John Joseph Stanley, Donald L. Stelluto, Jr., Timothy A. Strand, Imre Sutton, Nancy J. Taniguchi, and Lonnie Wilson.

Winner, Presidio La Bahia Award, Sons of the Republic of Texas, 2000 Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Association Book Award, the Texas Old Missions and Fort Restoration Association and the Texas Catholic Historical Society, 2001 The Spanish colonial era in Texas (1528-1821) continues to emerge from the shadowy past with every new archaeological and historical discovery. In this book, years of archival sleuthing by Donald E. Chipman and Harriett Denise Joseph now reveal the real human beings behind the legendary figures who discovered, explored, and settled Spanish Texas. By combining dramatic, real-life incidents, biographical sketches, and historical background, the authors bring to life these famous (and sometimes infamous) men of Spanish Texas: Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca Alonso de León Francisco Hidalgo Louis Juchereau de St. Denis Antonio Margil The Marqués de Aguayo Pedro de Rivera Felipe de Rábago José de Escandón Athanase de Mézières The Marqués de Rubí Antonio Gil Ibarvo Domingo Cabello José Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara Joaquín de Arredondo The authors also devote a chapter to the women of Spanish Texas, drawing on scarce historical clues to tell the stories of both well-known and previously unknown Tejana, Indian, and African women.