LAGUNA DISTRICT

agricultural area comprising adjoining portions of western Coahuila and eastern Durango estados (states), northern Mexico. The district, which contains approximately 312,000 acres (126,000 hectares) of irrigable land, occupies the western portion of the Mayrn Basin; it was named for the shallow lakes (lagunas) formed on the plain. The land, once used only for grazing, belonged to a large hacienda until the 1850s. In 1936, under the agrarian reform program of President Lzaro Crdenas, it was divided among Indian communities under the Mexican cooperative system of ejidos (with ownership retained by the government), and water from the Rivers Nazas and Aguanaval was used for irrigation. Cotton production in the district increased dramatically for a number of years but declined sharply after severe drought in the early 1950s. Many farm families were relocated, and the government initiated new irrigation projects. The major cities of the district are Torren and Gmez Palacio.