The beauty of Espada Dam

As a follow up to the visit of Mission Espada, I decided to make a trip to the Espada Dam. In South Texas where there is little rainfall, Espada Dam played a key role on the lifestyles of the people. Espada Dam is the oldest dam in Texas that is still used today. Espada Dam was built to retain water that could be used by the missionaries and Indians. The dam provides 4500 gallons of water per minute into the acequia system. Mission Espada relied heavily on the acequia system, which consist of Espada damn, for many purposes. The biggest use of the acequia system would be for irrigation purposes. Without the acequia system there would be no water for planting and harvesting crops. The colonist used floodgates to control the quantity of water sent to the various 400 acres of farm fields that needed to be irrigated. This acequia system was also used for washing various items, bathing, and power for mill wheels.


Till this day, Espada Dam still plays a major role in people’s lives. Farmers who live around the system still rely on it for irrigation.
In some cases it may still be used for washing and bathing purposes as well. But, on this trip I noticed that it was used for an entertainment attraction. There were individuals fishing, playing in the water, taking photographs, hiking the nature trails, and just enjoying the overall beauty of the area.


While approaching Espada dam heads on, the river advances far beyond one can see.
But, the first thing that caught my attention was the new Espada dam built right next the old one. This new dam is located on the right side of the old dam. The new dam is double to triple the size of the original dam. But, when comparing the two dams there is a major difference in the way they were built. The old dam was constructed by old rocks put together while, the new one is one big concrete wall. This is a perfect example that shows how today is a lot more advanced then the olden days. Towards the bottom of the old river mouth, the old river flows into the new river created by this new dam. Also on the right side a nature park and road have been established. The road cuts right down the middle of the new river that has been created by the new dam. To the left side of the road, tables and benches are present for individuals to overlook the two dams. To the left side of the old dam there is a cemetery on top of a hill just beyond the tree banks. I cannot prove that this cemetery was established by the colonist who once dominated this land. The brush country that once surrounded this dam has been cleared out to make it safe for tourist to come visit. As we may all speculate, this location looked completely different than it does when it was first established. It is neat to see that today we are influenced by the way people lived before our time.