Imaginaries of the Environment and Geography

Agua Magazine as a Source of Knowledge of the Narratives Around Water Management in Mendoza

Abstract

This article is framed in Historical Geography. We analyze the Agua Magazine documentary collection produced by the General Department of Irrigation of Mendoza between the years 1959 and 1975. In this article we analyze the archival fund of the journal Agua (the Spanish word for water), published by the Departamento General de Irrigación (the provincial water management institution) of the Province of Mendoza, Argentina, in the years 1959-1975. The framework of the article is Historical Geography. We have identified a series of narratives about environmental and geographical imaginaries that allow to describe four stages: 1) the beginning of the magazine "Agua"; 2) a "classical" moment; 3) the internationalization of hydric discussions; 4) the return the journal. Through the lens of imaginaries, we have identified some general level discussions on the provincial territory, such as: oasis-desert dichotomy, "fight" against nature, development-oriented economic production. It is possible to identify transversal points in these discussions (for example, aridity as a condition of the territory to which technical rationality must be applied), as well as some specific nuances (water as a source of wealth of various types).