Incorporating communication research to develop an environmental history of the Pecos River of Texas
Near the turn of the Century, a woman in her 90s from Dodge City, Kansas was riding her horse near the Pecos River and she described it as a sea of saltgrasses...You had to be very close to the river to see it because the grass was so high You could drink the water out of the springs in this area. I...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sissa Medialab
2007-10-01
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| Series: | JCOM: Journal of Science Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://jcom.sissa.it/archive/06/04/Jcom0604%282007%29A02/Jcom0604%282007%29A02.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818132688508289024 |
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| author | Ric Jensen |
| author_facet | Ric Jensen |
| author_sort | Ric Jensen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Near the turn of the Century, a woman in her 90s from Dodge City, Kansas was riding her horse near the Pecos River and she described it as a sea of saltgrasses...You had to be very close to the river to see it because the grass was so high You could drink the water out of the springs in this area. I used to ride down to the Pecos River on horseback...There was a lot more water in it back then. We grew cantaloupes...and people were amazed at how sweet they were... We stopped because the water [became] was too salty. In 1903, fresh watercress and ferns were growing at Independence Springs [on the Lower Pecos River]...and there were pools of catfish and silver bass. Residents along Independence Creek sold minnows and other bait fish they took from the river. We had a terrible flood in 1941 and 1942 which breached Zimmerman Dam. The river at some places was 10 miles wide. Floodwater covered the valley and the dam was washed out. It seems there is always less water in the Pecos than we need... I think the water quality is worse now-- not that the Pecos River was ever beautiful and clear. When my grandfather got here 110 years ago, they had a lot of water problems then. The prospect of fixing the saltcedar problem and making this area come back the way it was 100 years ago looks bleak for to me...I don't know if we can do that --Quotes from long-time residents of the Pecos River of Texas |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T08:40:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-87eff0bddb264ac8b2ebf2826133e614 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1824-2049 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T08:40:48Z |
| publishDate | 2007-10-01 |
| publisher | Sissa Medialab |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JCOM: Journal of Science Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-87eff0bddb264ac8b2ebf2826133e6142022-12-22T01:14:16ZengSissa MedialabJCOM: Journal of Science Communication1824-20492007-10-0164Incorporating communication research to develop an environmental history of the Pecos River of TexasRic JensenNear the turn of the Century, a woman in her 90s from Dodge City, Kansas was riding her horse near the Pecos River and she described it as a sea of saltgrasses...You had to be very close to the river to see it because the grass was so high You could drink the water out of the springs in this area. I used to ride down to the Pecos River on horseback...There was a lot more water in it back then. We grew cantaloupes...and people were amazed at how sweet they were... We stopped because the water [became] was too salty. In 1903, fresh watercress and ferns were growing at Independence Springs [on the Lower Pecos River]...and there were pools of catfish and silver bass. Residents along Independence Creek sold minnows and other bait fish they took from the river. We had a terrible flood in 1941 and 1942 which breached Zimmerman Dam. The river at some places was 10 miles wide. Floodwater covered the valley and the dam was washed out. It seems there is always less water in the Pecos than we need... I think the water quality is worse now-- not that the Pecos River was ever beautiful and clear. When my grandfather got here 110 years ago, they had a lot of water problems then. The prospect of fixing the saltcedar problem and making this area come back the way it was 100 years ago looks bleak for to me...I don't know if we can do that --Quotes from long-time residents of the Pecos River of Texashttp://jcom.sissa.it/archive/06/04/Jcom0604%282007%29A02/Jcom0604%282007%29A02.pdfScience communication: theories and modelsPublic communication of and discourses on science and technologyEnvironment communication |
| spellingShingle | Ric Jensen Incorporating communication research to develop an environmental history of the Pecos River of Texas JCOM: Journal of Science Communication Science communication: theories and models Public communication of and discourses on science and technology Environment communication |
| title | Incorporating communication research to develop an environmental history of the Pecos River of Texas |
| title_full | Incorporating communication research to develop an environmental history of the Pecos River of Texas |
| title_fullStr | Incorporating communication research to develop an environmental history of the Pecos River of Texas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Incorporating communication research to develop an environmental history of the Pecos River of Texas |
| title_short | Incorporating communication research to develop an environmental history of the Pecos River of Texas |
| title_sort | incorporating communication research to develop an environmental history of the pecos river of texas |
| topic | Science communication: theories and models Public communication of and discourses on science and technology Environment communication |
| url | http://jcom.sissa.it/archive/06/04/Jcom0604%282007%29A02/Jcom0604%282007%29A02.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ricjensen incorporatingcommunicationresearchtodevelopanenvironmentalhistoryofthepecosriveroftexas |