The Spanish Acequias of San Antonio

The Spanish Acequias of San Antonio
Author: I. Waynne Cox
Publisher: Maverick Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9781595347060

Pioneering account of San Antonio's Spanish-era acequia system

Spanish Water, Anglo Water

Spanish Water, Anglo Water
Author: Charles R. Porter
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2011-06-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1603444688

In 1718, the Spanish settled San Antonio, partly because of its prolific and breathtaking springs—at that time, one of the largest natural spring systems in the known world. The abundance of fresh water, coupled with the Spanish colonial legal concept that water was to be equitably shared by all settlers, led to the building of the system of acequias (canals or ditches) within the settlement. The system is one of the earliest and perhaps most extensive municipal water systems in North America. This book offers a meticulous chronicling of the origins and often-contentious development of water rights in San Antonio from its Spanish settlement through the beginning of the twentieth century.

Prelude to Texas Community

Prelude to Texas Community
Author: Charles R. Porter (Jr.)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2006*
Genre: Irrigation canals and flumes
ISBN:

"The purpose of this paper is to describe the springs of San Antonio and tell the hsitory of its irrigation system, its significance in forming the underprinnings of San Antonio's community and the Spanish concept of derecho, right or justice, the wise combination of which were essential to the formation of the community."--P. 2.

The Spanish Missions of San Antonio

The Spanish Missions of San Antonio
Author: Lewis F. Fisher
Publisher: Maverick Books
Total Pages: 120
Release: 1998
Genre: History
ISBN:

Presents a collection of over one hundred thirty archival and newer photographs and illustrations describing five Spanish missions of San Antonio, and includes archeological data and discoveries.

The San Juan and Espada Acequias : Two Historic Cultural Landscapes Preserved, Restored and Adapted as Contemporary Urban Agriculture

The San Juan and Espada Acequias : Two Historic Cultural Landscapes Preserved, Restored and Adapted as Contemporary Urban Agriculture
Author: Daniel Joseph Alvarado
Publisher:
Total Pages: 122
Release: 2018
Genre:
ISBN:

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.

San Antonio de Béxar

San Antonio de Béxar
Author: Jesús F. de la Teja
Publisher: UNM Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 1995
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780826317513

A beautifully written history of the development of San Antonio in colonial Texas.

San Antonio Missions

San Antonio Missions
Author: Luis Torres
Publisher: Western National Parks Association
Total Pages: 52
Release: 1993
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 9781877856174

Describes the history of the Spanish missions in the San Antonio, Texas, area, now preserved as the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

The San Antonio Missions

The San Antonio Missions
Author: Lydia O. Powell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 84
Release: 1982
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780937460061

A Study of their history and development with accompanying activities.