Water and Land: Organization and Rearrangement of Reclaimed Land and Emerging Activities in Lake Chapala, Mexico

Abstract

The Mexican states of Michoacán and Jalisco share the Chapala Lake and its basin. Due to its biological richness, abundance of water and fertile land, diverse indigenous cultures were established there. After the arrival of Europeans the swamps were occupied, which formed new territorial systems stemming from the establishment of encomiendas and haciendas. During the end of the 19th century and throughout the 20th, economic and technical projects of land reclamation were put forth in the lake and the new soil was used for agricultural and livestock activities. These changes involved conflicts and transformations in the local systems of production, the natural landscape and in the ways of appropriating, occupying and organizing the reclaimed land. The objective of this study is to address the dynamics of change in the riverine territory from the beginning of the 20th century to the present, which became as a contentious and complex process that resulted in social inequalities throughout the ten coastal municipalities, as well as to explore emerging trends of territorial rearrangemen.