The Cross Section, Volume 16, Number 4, April 1970 Page: 4
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Page 4 THE CROSS SECTION April, 1970
Alex Daricek . . .p
--continued from page 1
or anyone else at the time, the aquifer
in this part of Bailey County is con-
fined primarily to ancient buried
stream channels (now filled with sands
and gravels) that traverse the area in
a meandering fashion from northwest
to southeast. Only within these chan-
nels can large capacity irrigation wells
be developed. As chance would have
it, Alex's first well did not intersect
one of these channels, and it was con-
sidered a failure.
In order to reduce costs, Alex leas-
ed a drilling rig, taught himself how
to drill wells, and began his explora-
tion in earnest. Leasing also proved
more costly than Alex was willing to
accept for his continued failure to
develop an irrigation well. Therefore,
he approached his banker for a loan
to purchase a drilling rig. With ap-
parent disbelief in his proposal, but
with equally apparent belief in Alex,
the banker commented, as he was
signing the check for the requested
loan, "Alex, I would just as soon you
were buying a battleship."
His indominable determination paid
off-he ultimately developed a total
of five irrigation wells. One of these
wells was reportedly the largest (10-
inch) well ever developed in this part
of Bailey County.
In 1961, the Dariceks left their
Bailey County farm to "retire" to the
management of a lodge they purchased
on Lake Granite Shoals (now L. B. J.
Lake). Alex attacked retirement with
the same gusto that he exhibited while
farming, and it was only after selling
the lodge that the Dariceks finally
retired to their new lakeside home. It
was here Alex passed away after being
ill only a few hours, and nearby wherehe is buried in the red granite soils of
the old Kingsland Cemetery.
Mitchell Undergoes
Surgery
Chester Mitchell, President of the
Board of Directors of the High Plains
Underground Water Conservation Dis-
trict No. 1, entered St. Paul's Hospital,
Dallas, on April 1, to undergo heart
surgery. Veins removed from his legs
were used to bypass blocked arteries
adjacent to his heart. On April 18th,
he returned to his home near Lock-
ney. His recovery has been excellent."For so long as the Rio Grande
shall continue to flow, the memory and
contributions of the Honorable Hal A.
Beckwith shall continue to serve and
benefit generations of Texas, Mexican
and American citizens." Hal A. Beck-
with, 86 years old, passed peacefully
from this world at 8:00 P.M. on Easter
Sunday, March 29, 1970.
This tribute to Harry Abeel Beck-
with, Hal, was part of Texas Senate
Concurrent Resolution No. 71; nam-
ing the three pronged arm of Falcon
International Reservoir the Beckwith
Arm, on May 11, 1967.
This resolution was also introduced
into the Congressional Record of the
United States House of Representa-
tives on September 21, 1967, by the
Honorable Abraham Kazen, Laredo,
Texas, who noted ". . . among the con-Local Approach
-continued from page 2
only declined a total of 24.91 feet-
4.01 feet less than the actual decline,
or nearly 14 percent less decline of
the water table.
There appears to be an average an-
nual recovery of about 30 percent of
the tailwater in these four counties.
During the last eight years, about
one-half year's supply of irrigation
water has been conserved; however,
enough water was wasted during this
same time to irrigate all the land in
these same counties for more than one
year.
IN THE FUTURE
It is apparent that the District's
"educational" approach has made no-
table gains in abating tailwater waste,
however, it is equally apparent that
the job is less than one-half completed.
In these times of demands for in-
stantaneous change through (suppos-
edly) cure-all legislation, the new, city-
bred cult of conservationists are show-
ing less satisfaction for gradual and
equitable change. Therefore, we ad-
vocates of home rule-the local ap-
proach - will be pressed for faster
strides to attain the "ultimate" solu-
tion to tailwater and other water waste.
We can meet this challenge by the
individual's acceptance of his own re-
sponsibility-if you have the capa-
city to create waste you have the ca-
pacity to abate same.
* From a paper presented by F. A. Rayner
at the Water Resources & Irrigation Sympo-
sium, Lubbock, Texas, March 31, 1970.F;,e
I,
HAL A. BECKWITH
stituency which I am honored to rep-
resent in the Congress is an old and
dear friend of mine, the Honorable
Hal A. Beckwith of Eagle Pass, Tex-
as."
Born on February 10, 1884, in Bell
County, Texas, Hal earned his formal
education by working on jobs ranging
from hay baling, to surveying, to re-
frigeration plant design. He received
a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil
Engineering from the Univeristy of
Texas in 1911. On May 29, 1965, he
was the recipient of the Distinguished
Engineering Graduate Award; the
highest award that the College of En-
gineering of the University of Texas
can bestow upon an alumnus.
Arriving in the Rio Grande Valley
in June 1911, Hal observed, "There
were no railroads in the area where
pumping plants were located, and
equipment and material had to be
hauled by wagon; no established sea
level datum bench marks on which to
base elevations, nor any established
meridian for longitude control. Hori-
zontal control was maintained by co-
ordinating Polaris observations and old
'1700' Spanish surveys."
As a result of his pioneering work
in developing irrigation projects along
the Rio Grande; the award, "In Ap-
preciation For Unselfish Service", pre-
sented to Hal at the annual convention
of the Texas Water Conservation As-
sociation, on March 28, 1966, in Cor-
pus Christi, noted, "It has been said
that he and the late Moss Hill (Lon E.
Hill) dug the Rio Grande."
At the onset of World War I, Hal
noted, "In the summer of 1917HAL BECKWITH DIES-HIS RIVER FLOWS
a dedicated public servant and a rec-
ognized authority in the beneficial use
and administration of public water
and . .. Mr. Beckwith's life was char-
acterized by splendid manhood and by
his steadfastness to truth, honor and
patriotic service in every position he
occupied . .
His keen wit left us with the know-
ledge that a beautiful day was, "a
powerful day", that the Big Bend
country was, "fine for conversation
but darned poor for prowlin"; and
that a girl in a mini skirt, "would not
get her skirt wet in a flood".
Two hours before he slipped into
eternal rest he said, "As I look at the
whole picture of my life, the plus's
outnumber the minus's". There is no
, I en- finer epitaph for an Engineer.S tered training camp, Leon Springs,
and in August of that year entered one
of the first aviation ground schools
the United States ever operated." .. .
"The engines were of the various types
that were first used in airplanes, and
the airplanes were the first types ever
used in the Army."
After working on several irrigation
projects in the Rio Grande Valley, in
Nebraska and in the Republic of
Haiti; Hal was employed on several
national defense construction projects
throughout World War II.
In April 1947 he was named by
the late Governor Beauford H. Jester
to the State Board of Water Engineers
and served until December 1957. He
was Chairman of the Board from No-
vember 1949 to September 1955. In
December 1957 he was named Chief
Topographic Engineer for the Board,
in which capacity he served to No-
to rep- vember 1961, when he was again ap-
ld and pointed a Member of the Texas Water
iorable Commission, successor to the Board
Tex- of Water Engineers (now the Texas
Water Rights Commission). He re-
in Bell mained on the Commission until Jan-
formal uary 1965, at which time, he again
angmng became the Commission's Director of
to re- Topographic Mapping. He retired in
ceived January 1967.
n Civil Hal was a Registered Professional
isty of Engineer in Texas and a member of
)65, he the Texas Society of Professional En-
7uished gineers. He was an Associate Mem-
I; the ber of the American Society of Civil
of En- Engineers and the past President of
Texas the Association of Western State En-
gineers.
Valley A resolution adopted by the Texas
"There Water Rights Commission on April
where 2, 1970, noted that, ". . . the State lost
1, and one of its most distinguished citizens,T O16L SYXI `)mossfll
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I
THE CROSS SECTION
A pril, 1970
Page 4
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High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 (Tex.). The Cross Section, Volume 16, Number 4, April 1970, periodical, April 1970; Lubbock, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1532941/m1/4/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.