By Arturo Morales Tirado
Living as we do and expanding our perception of the life surrounding us, that which excites us is part of our experience when connecting with the wonder and beauty of springs. These flows of water appear from fractures in rocks and depressions in soil on the slopes of mountains or from groundwater emerging from deep springs in valleys or ravines. Without a doubt, they are a privilege for our senses, spirit, and humanity and fundamental for the existence and enjoyment of life.
Much of the area of the Frontera de Tierra Adentro coincides with the upper sub-basin of the Laja River. The area incorporates the present municipalities of San Miguel de Allende, Dolores Hidalgo, San Felipe, San Diego de la Unión, San Luis de la Paz, part of Dr. Mora, Ocampo, León, and Guanajuato. And according to an investigation in 2000 by Dr. Marcos Adrián Ortega Guerrero and team, toward the end of the last major glaciation (the Wisconsin or Würm Glaciation, from about 110,000 years ago to 9,700 years ago), melting glacier water infiltrated the land creating the Independencia aquifer. This fossil water (“connate water”) supported the regular production of water from hundreds of springs in the extraordinary Frontera de Tierra Adentro until about 50 years ago. The springs had existed long before even the first pre-Hispanic agricultural communities—the first farmers in the state of Guanajuato and our territory—belonging to the indigenous Chupícuaro tradition were established, flourishing from approximately 500 BC to AD 50).
Until 50 years ago, most of the springs, as well as the streams and rivers of the upper sub-basin of the Laja River—practically the same area as the Independencia aquifer and about 80% of the Frontera Tierra Adentro—were perennial. Sadly, most of the streams, rivers, and springs today are intermittent due to human over-consumption of resources (water, land, biodiversity, food, bio-energy cycles). Most only have water flows during certain months, and many shallow springs have dried up completely, ceasing to produce water, perhaps forever. The most significant local example of this is the case of the once magnificent spring of El Chorro, practically in the heart of San Miguel de Allende and on the volcanic slope of Montequehuma (Smoking Mountain). El Chorro became extinct in 1999, only 23 years ago. Like El Chorro, more than 45 local springs have dried up—springs that gave rise to the Spanish viceroyal Villa Protectora de San Miguel, later renamed because of the wealth of natural resources, including spring water, to San Miguel el Grande.
Fortunately, we can still marvel at and enjoy countless springs in the mountains surrounding the upper sub-basin of the Laja River and the Independencia aquifer. We can find springs issuing on the slopes of the four volcanoes of the San Miguel volcanic field (El Zamorano, Támbula-La Joya, San Pedro, and Los Picachos-Palo Huérfano), as well as in the mountains of the semi-desert to the north and west, for example, the springs of the Sierra Morena, Sierra de Guanajuato, Sierra de Santa Rosa, Sierra Cuatralba, Sierra de Lobos, and Nuevo Valle de Moreno (where the Laja River rises), El Cubo, and the western slope of the Sierra Gorda.
Of course, to enjoy these natural wonders, we have to get closer to these mountainous regions, and it’s a great opportunity to connect with wildlife. As one of this year’s slogans for World Environment Day says: Let’s make peace with nature. We only have one Earth. The connection with nature, through the experience of wildlife around springs and the ecosystems closest to us in our cities or communities, induces and moves us to know nature, to value it, protect it, restore it, and manage it. Why? To know and enjoy today the springs and natural water flows. I accompany these notes with some images of these wonders of nature of the Frontera Tierra Adentro.
