Water on the Llano Estacado offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary investigation into the precarious relationship between human civilization and the vital water resources of the Southern High Plains. Centered on the Llano Estacado-a vast, semi-arid plateau spanning parts of Texas and New Mexico-this volume addresses the looming crisis of the Ogallala Aquifer's depletion. By bridging the gap between the hard sciences, legal scholarship, and the environmental humanities, editors John Beusterien and Britta Anderson assemble a diverse cohort of experts to examine water not merely as a commodity but as a defining cultural and biological force. The narrative moves from the deep time of geological formations to the urgent legal and technical challenges of the twenty-first century. Contributors explore provocative theoretical frameworks such as Water Gaia, which posits the Earth as a living aquifer, alongside rigorous histories of the Ogallala Formation and the ecological drying of significant sites like Blackwater Draw. The collection further interrogates the complexities of Texas water law and the potential for technological innovation and policy adaptation to secure a sustainable future. Scholarly yet accessible, this work provides a necessary road map for understanding groundwater management in one of North America's most hydrologically sensitive regions, making it an essential resource for researchers in environmental history, geography, and natural resource policy.
John Beusterien is a professor of Spanish at Texas Tech University. He has published widely in the environmental humanities and is developing Lubbock Waters, a museum to educate about the ecosystem of the Southern High Plains. Britta Anderson is an assistant professor of border studies and Latinx literature at Texas Tech University. She teaches courses on environmental justice and researches the social and environmental impacts of border militarization.
Illustrations Tables Preface Introduction Part I: Science and Water Law Chapter 1: Water Gaia: The Earth as Aquifer - Bruce Clarke Chapter 2: Water Sources on the Llano Estacado: A History of the Study of the Ogallala Formation - Joseph Cepeda Chapter 3: Groundwater Depletion and the Drying of Blackwater Draw - John E. Stout Chapter 4: Addressing the Water Challenges of the Llano Estacado with New Sources - Balaji Rao, Karlo Rasporic, and Danny Reible Chapter 5: Adaptation to Redemption in the Texas High Plains - Amy Hardberger Part II: Archaeology and History Chapter 6: Water Diplomacy: Cross-Cultural Encounters on the High Plains Aquascapes during the Era of Early Contact?? - John William Nelson Chapter 7: Controlling Water, Controlling the Llano: Water, Violence, War, and Settler Colonialism in the Nineteenth-Century Llano Estacado - Joel Zapata Chapter 8: Fossil Animals of the Llano Estacado and the Natural History of Water on the Southern Great Plains - John A. Moretti Chapter 9: Lubbock's Water History - Jim Bertram, John Beusterien, and Eileen Johnson Part III: Life Writing Chapter 10: After the Fall: Three Land Recovery Practitioners on the Southern Plains - Darryl Birkenfeld Chapter 11: Who Is Going to Save the Ogallala Aquifer from Depletion? Class Politics in Three Literary Texts - Ryan Brooks Chapter 12: Natural Springs, Terminal Culture: An Elegy for Water on the Llano Estacado - Alex Hunt Chapter 13: Finding the Trail of Living Water: A Journey of 12,000 Years - Dolores Mosser, with Sammie Simpson, Eric Simpson, and Eileen Martha Part IV: Music and the Visual Arts Chapter 14: The Thirsty Llano Estacado in a Ballad about a Legendary Cibolero - John Beusterien and Tim F. Foster Chapter 15: M12 Studio's The Tap, or the Slow Drip of Aquifer Depletion - Kevin Chua Chapter 16: Process & Pedagogy: Visual Art and Mediations on the Ogallala Aquifer - Carol Flueckiger Chapter 17: Corrido Vibrante/Vibrant Currents: A Visual Poetic Essay on the Llano Estacado - Jorge Hernandez Camacho, Criseida Santos-Guevara, Mathilda Shepard Lubbock Waters: A Conclusion and a Beginning - John Beusterien Acknowledgments Bibliography Contributors Index
