Browsing by Subject "Irrigation"

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Alienating Iranians from their environment : irrigation, flood control, and public health in late Pahlavi Khuzestan
(2018-05-02) Sitzes, Bryan Campbell; Aghaie, Kamran Scot; Shirazi, Faegheh
This thesis explores the changing relationship between rural Iranians, the state, and the environment in the mid-20th century through a regional study of the province of Khuzestan, in southwestern Iran. This research differs from predominant histories of modernization in Iran by its use of an environmental historical framework and its focus on rural communities on the national periphery. Environmental history, as opposed to political, economic, intellectual, or feminist history, emphasizes the dynamic dialectical relationship between society and its environment, acknowledging the historical agency of the latter. Examining changes in the relationships between society, rivers, and disease (types of “socio-environmental” relationships) demonstrates how modernization projects affected social institutions and Iranian conceptions of nature. 20th century state initiatives degraded the existing relationship between society and environment in Khuzestan because of a modernist faith in humanity’s power over natural phenomena and a capitalist drive to replace traditional modes of labor with new jobs integrated into a global cash economy. Engineers designed plans for new canals and a massive modern dam that foremen and their professional crews built with over one million tons of concrete. Village health agents coerced residents into mass chemotherapy treatments while school officials experimented with the diets of schoolchildren to see what mixture of proteins might produce the healthiest citizens. These projects reveal a state faith in the ability of experts to control natural phenomena and successfully order society without input from local communities. Using corporate archival material, state reports, and anthropological studies, I tell the story of how the Development and Resources Corporation’s arrival in Khuzestan drastically altered socio-environmental dynamics, how the state enhanced its power and presence in villages, and the ambiguous response of villagers to these changes. The attractions of modern technologies and comfort commodities often came at the price of personal and communal autonomy. I argue that the DRC and the state altered traditional modes of incorporating nature into rural social structures. These organizations partially alienated Iranians from their natural environment by conceptualizing it as a resource to be completely controlled, for profit and national benefit, rather than accommodated for local needs and demands
Hydrothermal activity
(2009-03) Barker, Daniel S.
Masters not friends : land, labor and politics of place in rural Pakistan
(2013-05) Rizvi, Mubbashir Abbas; Ali, Kamran Asdar, 1961-
This dissertation analyzes the cultural significance of land relations and caste/religious identity to understand political subjectivity in Punjab, Pakistan. The ethnography details the vicissitudes of a peasant land rights movement, Anjuman-e Mazarin Punjab (Punjab Tenants Association) that is struggling to retain land rights on vast agricultural farms controlled by the Pakistan army. The dissertation argues that land struggles should not only be understood in tropes of locality, but also as interconnected processes that attend to global and local changes in governance. To emphasize these connections, the dissertation gives a relational understanding of 'politics of place' that attends to a range of practices from the history of colonial infrastructure projects (the building of canals, roads and model villages) that transformed this agricultural frontier into the heart of British colonial administration. Similarly, the ethnographic chapters relate the history of 'place making' to the present day uncertainty for small tenant sharecroppers who defied the Pakistan Army's attempts to change land relations in the military farms. Within these parameters, this ethnographic study offers a "thick description" of Punjab Tenants Association to analyze the internal shifts in loyalties and alignments during the course of the protest movement by looking at how caste, religious and/or class relations gain or lose significance in the process. My research seeks to counter the predominant understanding of Muslim political subjectivity, which privileges religious beliefs over social practices and regional identity. Another aspect of my work elucidates the symbolic exchange between the infrastructural project of irrigation, railway construction and regional modernity in central Punjab. The network of canals, roads and railways transformed the semi-arid region of Indus Plains and created a unique relationship between the state and rural society in central Punjab. However, this close relationship between rural Punjab and state administration is not void of conflict but rather it indicates a complex sense of attachment and alienation, inclusion and exclusion from the state.
Mexico in Transition: New Perspectives on Mexican Agrarian History, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries / México y sus transiciones: reconsideraciones sobre la historia agraria mexicana, siglos XIX y XX
(Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, CIESAS, 2013) Escobar Ohmstede, Antonio; Butler, Matthew;
The San Juan and Espada acequias : two historic cultural landscapes preserved, restored and adapted as contemporary urban agriculture
(2018-07-11) Alvarado, Daniel Joseph; Lierberknecht, Katherine E.
This report assesses the historic, current and future conditions two Spanish Colonial irrigation systems in San Antonio, Texas known as the San Juan and Espada acequias, respectively. The two acequias are the only functional remnants of what was once a city-wide system which supported thousands of early San Antonians. Today, the two acequias are managed separately, each in a way that reflects their complicated history and institutional structure. This report relates in detail those histories and parses out the complex institutional structures in the context of the rapid urban growth of San Antonio and wider challenges such as climate change and groundwater depletion. It demonstrates that the acequias democratic, derecho-based water and land allocation structure is a valuable institutional model for resilient resource management regimes, however their continued existence will require significant adaptation to contemporary legal, political and ecological realities. With this in mind, this report seeks to identify theoretical frameworks with which the acequias could be restored and adapted for these contemporary realities as urban agriculture system while maintaining aspects of their traditional water and land allocation structures. It identifies the acequias as social-ecological systems (SES) that could be incorporated into a broader ecosystem services valuation of the San Antonio River watershed. It argues that the National Park Service (NPS), a major stakeholder in the acequias, should adapt its definition of Cultural Landscapes to better support working lands within their purview. Finally, it identifies the development status of the 1,750 acres of land (broken down by parcels) potentially irrigatable by the acequias and quantifies the potential yield of those parcels as supporting 38,356 people’s recommended vegetable consumption per year.
Water conservation on campuses of higher education in Texas
(2014-08) Zellner, Hannah Marie; Pierce, Suzanne Alise, 1969-
Facing drought and water shortages, many regions of the United States and the world have been forced to improve water resources management. In water-stressed areas of the US, water conservation has become the most economically viable water supply option available. As such, water conservation efforts are an increasingly popular method of demand management and have proven effective at various scales throughout the country. Many states in the arid southwest, including Texas, have incorporated water conservation strategies into their state water plans to reduce demand during drought conditions. At the 2013 Summit for the Texas Regional Alliance for Campus Sustainability (TRACS), water conservation was identified as a critical issue for higher education institutes (HEI) across the state. HEIs are analogous to small cities in terms of their resource use, and can also serve as test labs for sustainability concepts and resource management strategies. In response to concerns about water scarcity, TRACS launched an evaluation of water conservation strategies across Texas’ HEI campuses. The project collected data focused on the use of water conservation methods and their perceived effectiveness in irrigation and landscaping, building use, and utilities. Additionally, water conservation educational efforts, and the goals and policies of HEIs were considered. The objectives of the project were to collaborate with Texas HEIs, compile a database of best practices, and identify regional preferences in a state with varying climates and water resources. The results of the survey determined that native and adaptive plants were the most-widely used water conservation method for irrigation and landscaping as well the most effective strategy. In buildings, low-flow plumbing was reported to be the most widely-used and also most effective water conservation method. A variety of water conservation measures were used in utilities; metering, maintenance, and recycling water were viewed as most effective. While many HEIs reported offering opportunities for students to learn or participate in research about water conservation, only half reported offering workshops or courses for managerial staff and faculty. Education for staff and faculty is a particularly important area for improvement, as many staff members are closely involved in managing water use across campuses. Many of the HEIs reported having water conservation policies in place or pending and some participating HEIs reported having target reduction plans and involvement with agencies related to water conservation. It is important for the administration of educational institutions to put policies and plans in place to guide the everyday operations of a campus. HEIs in the state are making great strides in water conservation, but establishing a network to share best practices and improvements could significantly enhance campus water conservation initiatives.