Lake Scott State Park
Lake Scott State Park is the site of a ruined Taos Pueblo. The Taos arrived in western Kansas in 1664. After having escaped the Spanish colonial rule in New Mexico. They formed an alliance with a group of Plains Apache. The Taos Indians built the protective pueblos and an irrigation system from a nearby spring to water their crops. The settlement, known as El Cuartelejo, was occupied for 20 years before the builders returned to their home territory. The pueblo was reoccupied in 1696 by a group of Picuri Indians. The Picuris were compelled to retreat to their homelands in colonial New Mexico ten years later.
Mezquital Valley
Since the latter 20th century, the valley has become an important agricultural center for the state of Hidalgo, growing corn, beans, wheat, onions, tomatoes, cactus fruit, and peaches; the valley also produces one-quarter of all green chili peppers grown in Mexico. It also produces alfalfa, principally used to feed the area's cattle. A small but important quantity of lettuce, cabbage, cilantro, radishes, carrots, spinach, and parsley is grown. There are also a number of fish farms, especially in Tezontepec de Aldama. About 61% of the population works in agriculture, which has been made possible by the diversion of wastewater from the neighboring Valley of Mexico through the Tula River. Sixty percent of the farmland is irrigated with wastewater. Thirty nine percent of the farmland is dependent on clean water sources such as wells and rain, and only 0.38 percent is irrigated with treated water. The areas most dependent on wastewater are: Actopan, Ajacuba, Alfajayucan, Atitalaquía, Atotonilco de Tula, Francisco I. Madero, Chilcuautla, Mixquihuala, San Salvador, Tasquillo, Tetepango, Tezontepec, Tlahuelilpan, and Tlaxcoapan. The areas that use wastewater are more productive, as the water contains phosphorus and nitrogen, but the products are more likely to have problems with contaminants. These contaminants also pose a risk to farm workers and their families.