As
the natural environment in what is now known as Loteria Township has changed
over time, human adaptation and cultural shifts have also occurred. While the
physical environment provides humans with the materials necessary for
maintaining life, the combination of physical and cultural events and processes
presents limitations and/or opportunities for exploitation and adaptation to
any given region. This chapter presents an overview of the natural and cultural
setting in the project area.
We
began our work understanding the environmental and cultural contexts for the
project with a careful review of the MCD Cultural Resources Management Plan
(CRMP) (Foss 2001)[1].
We followed this by checking citations in that document and by reviewing other
authorities for the area.
Mountweazel
Chemical Depot, and Loteria Township as a whole, is situated within “a unique ecotone
wherein the wayward Sierra Ricas are dragged bodily through the desert floor and
deported across the continental divide toward old Mexico” (Gobsherken 2003: 17)[2]. The
project area is located approximately 50 miles east of this geologic divide in
the Southwestern Desert region of the Basin and Range physiographic province in
extreme southern New Mexico. The Sierra Ricas are described by Gobsherken (2003:17)
as having a succession of massive limestone unconformities glowering upon the
federal MCD compound in all directions; spring-fed streams flow into semi-permanent
drainages such as Wamels Draw, through wide flat valleys, with wide, low bordering
bluffs. Wamels Draw is the primary drainage of Loteria Township; it flows out
of the Cedar Mountain range to the north, and into the Laguna los Moscos south
of the facility. Elevation in the region ranges between 1300-1500 m (4265-4921
ft) above mean sea level (amsl) between the desert pavement and the average
mountain peaks (Loomis 1975:2)[3].
3.1.1 Climate
This
township has an arid climate, which is influenced by geographic location,
topography, and air-mass activity. In general, the project area sees long,
torrid summers and brief, feverish winters.
This hot, dry climate supports summer temperatures around 105° Fahrenheit (F) and lows
around 80° F, and average winter temperatures ranging from 65° to 50° F. Annual
rainfall is distributed throughout the year and, ranges from 5 to 7 inches (NMCDCH 2012)[4]. The region has a long growing season,
which averages about 365 frost free days per year. This region has the lowest
relative humidity of all of New Mexico. In the winter, this dry air is lifted
and heated over the warm fronts of cyclonic storms; in the summer, it is lifted
and warmed by convection currents leading to thunderstorms. The hot, dry
climate has left the region susceptible severe droughts and dust-bowl
conditions and has necessitated dry-land farming methods for continuous
cultivation of crops (Loomis 1975).
The steadiness of this climate and diversity of ecological
regions has been a result of its location so far south of the last great
glaciation of 100,000 to 10,000 years before present (BP). This has allowed a
“head start” on prehistoric and historic warming trends of thousands of years
for the flora and fauna of the southwest desert to recast and adapt according
to the topography and soils of this region (Gobsherken 2003: 8).
[1] Foss, Gene 2001. Mountweazel
Chemical Depot Cultural Resources Management Plan. Prepared for the
GloboMax, Inc., Richmond, Virginia, under contract with US Army Corps of Engineers,
El
Paso District. Third Square Consulting, LLC., Philadelphia.
[2] Gobsherken,
Bibi. 2003. “Geology along the U.S.-Mexico Border, a USCBP Primer.” U.S. Department of Homeland Security,
Bulletin 13, Fall, pp 7-23.
[3] Loomis, Sandy. 1975. Soil Survey of Loteria Township, New Mexico. Loteria Township
Provisional Government, Occasional Publication XIV, Roswell Junction, New
Mexico.
[4]New Mexico
Climate Data Clearing House (NMCDCH). 2012. Data
for Loteria Township. Electronic document, www.nmcdch.org/loteria,
retrieved October 31, 2012.
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