Ancestral water management solutions are often small in scale and nature based. They’re usually affordable, use locally available materials and can be built and maintained by the community themselves. This also makes them sustainable, which is especially important in remote areas.
Indigenous water management solutions have often been adapted many times over decades, to take account of changing weather patterns and populations. This ‘built-in’ flexibility makes them ideal for adapting to the changing climate.
Peru’s ancient amunas
The dry climate in the western part of the central Andes means that communities here have always experienced water shortages. Beginning in the 15th century, farmers developed a series of water management techniques that allowed them to grow crops and raise livestock on land where it would have been otherwise impossible.
We met Gregorio Rios recently in Peru. He’s been working for decades to promote ancestral techniques for water management. He’s especially passionate about the reconstruction of a series of infiltration lagoons on the summit of the Marcahuasi plateau.
Gregorio Rios at the site of the ancient amunas in the Peruvian Andes.
Gregorio explained how the lagoons are created with the help of masonry dykes in the wide ravines on the plateau. “The water is diverted to these dykes by channels and cobblestones,” he told us. This system of channels is known locally as mamanteo, a term derived from the Spanish word for suckling, or amunas.
The lagoon water then filters through fractures in the rock, which has two benefits:
1. It reduces the surface runoff that often causes landslides, which destroy crops.
2. The water can be used to irrigate farmland in the dry valleys.
These pre-Inca techniques were overlooked for decades, but interest in the techniques has resurfaced recently. The growing populations of large cities, such as Lima, calls for more water and more efficient water management systems. That’s why, after decades of neglect, attention is turning to the infiltration dykes, amunas and other solutions developed hundreds of years ago by the indigenous people of the Peruvian Andes. Gregorio told us that he’s now partnering with local authorities to help reconstruct the amunas of the Marcahuasi plateau.
Nepal’s age-old dhunge dharas
A dhunge dhara, or hiti, is a traditional Nepalese stone drinking fountain. Intricately carved stone waterways carry water to the fountains from underground sources. Dhunge dharas are part of a comprehensive drinking water supply system, which dates back to ancient times. An elaborate network of water bodies supplies the fountains, which serve as a water resource during the dry season and help relieve water pressure caused by monsoon rains.
Manga Hiti, in Patan, is considered to be the oldest working dhunge dhara on record – it was built in 570 AD.
After the introduction of modern, piped water systems, starting in the late 19th century, some parts of the old system of dhunge dharas fell into disrepair. However, in more remote areas they remained the main source of drinking water for whole communities, especially in the dry season.
