The history of Mendoza is closely tied to the use of water. The need to build infrastructure and resolve conflicts over this scarce resource led to the creation of water management institutions as early as colonial times. In 1884, the first water law was enacted, and the General Department of Waters was established—today known as the Departamento General de Irrigación (DGI), an autonomous and influential institution in the province whose main role is still the general administration of public waters.
Talking about the history of water in what is now the province of Mendoza is directly linked to the recovery and interpretation of minutes, plans, reports, illustrations, photographs, or books produced over the last two centuries by the entities responsible for managing this resource. Much of this documentation is held in general archives geographically dispersed across what is known as the passive archive of the General Department of Irrigation. To improve access and highlight the value of this collection, the Library and Historical Water Archive is being established at the central offices of Irrigation in the city of Mendoza.
Below are some images of the archive as we surveyed the different types of documents.
As part of the project to highlight the value of this collection—and in collaboration with the Institute of Human, Social and Environmental Sciences at CONICET (Incihusa/CONICET)—we traveled to Mendoza in September 2018 to build and install a V-shaped scanner for the library. The device will digitize a collection of books, photographs, and historical magazines that are not currently easily accessible to researchers.
The laser cutting of parts and material procurement were entirely carried out with local suppliers in the city of Mendoza, coordinated by members of Incihusa. Upon our arrival, all materials were ready to begin assembling the device.
On the second day, we began masking and painting the scanner in an open area within the Irrigation building.
Finally, on our last day in Mendoza, we carried out the final adjustments, positioned the device in its permanent location, installed its electrical system, programmed the cameras, and installed the capture and post-processing software on a laptop designated to operate the scanner. At the end of the day, we did a test run and provided training to members of the Library and Incihusa, which continued over the following weeks in a virtual format.
We would like to extend special thanks to Mark Healey, Facundo Martín, and Sergio Terrera for their trust in Bibliohack to carry out this project.
