Fragility of a productive space, climate change and flooding in the Bajio, eighteenth century

Abstract

The use of historical sources for the reconstruction of climate history is now a
method and a study area fully recognized by modern historiography. The vast
information in files on catastrophic floods in the Bajio region in addition to provid-
ing empirical data on periods of heavy rainfall, yields also information on the use
and abuse of certain hydraulic nature farming techniques, particularly flooding
irrigation that in the presence of heavy rains caused major floods caused greater
steams of water with the consequent material damage and the unfortunate death
of people. Rapid population growth in the cities of Celaya, Silao, Irapuato and
Leon in the eighteenth century, as a concomitant to mining development, gener-
ated a significant demand for agricultural products and manufacturers that re-
sulted in the expansion of the productive sector and an increasing intensification
of production methods. The multiplication of hydraulic works, both the simple
character as complex hydraulic engineering, with its necessary systems of dams,
dikes, ditches, streams and puddles deviation of time, eventually had a negative
impact on the ecosystems of the region causing repeated flooding that destroyed
homes and urban and rural infrastructure, leaving the population unprotected for
weeks, months and sometimes years.