Kuroiwa, Julio M.

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Article, Published VersionKuroiwa, Julio M.Historic examples of water management in pre-columbianandean societyHydrolinkVerfügbar unter/Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11970/109333Vorgeschlagene Zitierweise/Suggested citation:Kuroiwa, Julio M. (2016): Historic examples of water management in pre-columbian andeansociety. In: Hydrolink 2016/3. Madrid: International Association for Hydro-EnvironmentEngineering and Research (IAHR). S. 73-75. https://iahr.oss-accelerate.aliyuncs.com/library/HydroLink/HydroLink2016_03_Latin_America.pdf.Standardnutzungsbedingungen/Terms of Use:Die Dokumente in HENRY stehen unter der Creative Commons Lizenz CC BY 4.0, sofern keine abweichendenNutzungsbedingungen getroffen wurden. Damit ist sowohl die kommerzielle Nutzung als auch das Teilen, dieWeiterbearbeitung und Speicherung erlaubt. Das Verwenden und das Bearbeiten stehen unter der Bedingung derNamensnennung. Im Einzelfall kann eine restriktivere Lizenz gelten; dann gelten abweichend von den obigenNutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte.Documents in HENRY are made available under the Creative Commons License CC BY 4.0, if no other license isapplicable. Under CC BY 4.0 commercial use and sharing, remixing, transforming, and building upon the materialof the work is permitted. In some cases a different, more restrictive license may apply; if applicable the terms ofthe restrictive license will be binding.73hydrolink number 3/2016IAHRHISTORIC EXAMPLES OF WATER MANAGEMENT IN PRE-COLUMBIAN ANDEAN SOCIETYBY JULIO M. KUROIWAPre-Columbian American societies have beenknown to have developed capabilities in watermanagement, particularly in those regionswhere this resource is scarce. This articlesummarizes some of the evidences of watermanagement and engineering techniques in theAndean cultures that occupied the territory thatspans the area from Southern Colombia toNorthern Chile and Argentina and that,eventually, were assimilated or conquered bythe Inca Empire.We know that the first American urban centeremerged in the Supe River Valley approximately5000 years ago. This urban center was built bythe Caral Civilization and is located 200 kmNorth of Lima, Peru’s modern-day capital. Thisculture was contemporary with the SumerianCivilization in Mesopotamia, the HarappaCivilization in India, the Chinese Civilization andthe Egyptian Civilization in Northern Africa.However, the Caral Civilization developed incomplete isolation while there is evidence thatAsian and African cultures interacted. During theera of the Caral Civilization irrigation canals andwater reservoirs were built and terraces wereformed to contain earth. Farm fields werefertilized with seabird manure and fish headwaste. The Caral Culture influenced the Andeancultures that emerged in the next millennia.Evidence has been found in artistic manifestationsof the design of civil works (Shady-Solís et al.,2006). Figure 1 shows a truncated pyramid built inthe ancient city of Caral.ResumenEn este artículo se presentan algunosejemplos del manejo del agua en culturasandinas precolombinas que ocuparon elterritorio entre el Sur de Colombia hasta elNorte de Chile y Ecuador y queposteriormente fueron conquistados por elImperio Inca.  Se presentan ejemplos demanejo de agua para fines agrícolas enCaral (3000 A.C), las galerías filtrantes de la Cultura Nazca (200 – 800 D.C.) y lasobras hidráulicas en las ciudadelas deMacchu Picchu y Tipón del Imperio Incaico(1450 D.C.).  Estas soluciones de ingenieríapodrían inspirar soluciones a problemashídricos en el mundo actual. Figure 1. Truncated pyramid in Caral, ancient site located 200 km North of Lima. This city was built around 3,000 B.C. and is considered the oldest city in AmericaIn Pre-Columbian Andean history there havebeen periods of marked territorial expansion ofa particular culture as evidenced in constructionand manufacturing techniques, the arts, etc., inthe areas of its influence. These periods arecalled Horizons and where followed by periodsFigure 2. Cobble walls of Nazca canal downstream of filtration galleries. This irrigation structure is still in use74 hydrolink number 3/2016of division called Intermediate periods in whichlocal cultures were formed.The Nazca Culture flourished between the firstand the eight century of our era in the so calledEarly Intermediate period along the CentralCoast of Peru. The Nazca people built systemsto divert underground water to channels that, inturn, irrigated fields and supplied water to smallcities.  Rodríguez-Zubiate (2005) summarized astudy conducted by Delgado-Gutarra (2003) inwhich the latter was his advisee. In this researchproject the design and construction techniquesof the filtration galleries built by the Nazcapeople were analyzed. Underground water wasintercepted before it entered the alluviumsubstrate of the Aija River, which was dry 10months a year. Trenches were excavated in theNazca desert to capture underground watercoming from higher areas. The uppermostreach of the trenches was covered and thedownstream reach was left open formingJulio M. Kuroiwa iscurrently Director of theNational HydraulicsLaboratory and AssociateProfessor at the School ofCivil Engineering, Universidad Nacional deIngeniería, in Lima, Peru. He obtained theDoctor of Philosophy degree at ColoradoState University in 1999, and aftergraduation, he has been involved inresearch projects related to erosionprediction and control, optimization ofhydraulic structures through physical and/ornumerical modeling, fluvial geomorphology,water footprint and other water resourcesrelated topics. Julio Kuroiwa is a registeredProfessional Engineer in Peru and hasparticipated in hydrologic and hydraulicsstudies applied to infrastructure and designof hydraulic, road drainage and erosioncontrol structures in Peru and CentralAmerica.filtration galleries whose water was conveyed toirrigation canals and provided supplies topopulation centers. The cross section wasapproximately rectangular and its basemeasured between 0.4 m and 1.8 m. The wallsof the filtration galleries were covered bycobbles that both provided stability and werepermeable enough to allow underground waterto pass through the openings as seen in Figure2. The gallery “roof” was either made out ofstone or the wood of a local tree calledHuarango (Prosopis pallida). Maximum depth ofthe galleries was 6.8 m. Access to the filtrationgalleries for inspection and maintenance wasallowed by short spiral walkways as seen inFigure 3.  Wright and Valencia-Zegarra (2000) and Wright(2006) analyzed two important centers of theInca Empire (Late Horizon) from the engineeringviewpoint: Macchu Picchu and Tipon. MacchuPicchu is a small Inca city, now a World HeritageFigure 3. Spiral access hole to filtration galleries in Cantayoc, Nazca. It is located 450 km South of LimaFigure 4. Rock canal and waterfall in Tipon, a small Inca urban center located 24 km South of Cusco City. Notice that energy losses are induced upstream ofthe waterfall by creating a sinuous path. Consequently, the jet trajectory staysclose to the stone wall Figure 5.  Water fountain in Tipon. It was entirely built using igneous rock(in essence, the byproduct of rock carving)under this open area. Terraces, locally called“andenes”, provided stability to the mountainby controlling erosion and landslides and toallow cultivation of crops. Retention walls andgravel underdrains were included in the terracedesign. Wright and Valencia-Zegarra (2000)indicated that crops partially provided foodsupply to the city and it is certain that most ofthe food supply was provided by nearby farms.Figure 4 shows a canal in Tipon. Notice thatalignment changes rapidly just upstream of thewaterfall to induce head losses and diminishthe spread of the jet. Figure 5 shows a waterfountain at Tipon.Andean Pre-Columbian Civilizations ingeniouslysolved water resources related problems, byadapting engineering techniques to localconditions and, in essence, without negativelyaffecting the environment.  These examples ofgood planning and engineering may provideSite, discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911(Bingham, 1913) and is located in southeastPeru in the Cusco Region. Water was suppliedby a spring located uphill in a mountain rightnext to this archeological site. Analysis of watersamples taken during the research conductedby Wright and Valencia-Zegarra showed thatwater quality is good even by today’sstandards. Water was conveyed by a 749 mlong canal built with granite rocks.  Clay wasused to waterproof its base. The main canalsupplied water to fountains built in series. Thegeometry of the fountains allowed theplacement of a large water container called“aribalo” used to carry water to the houses.Macchu Picchu also had a very efficientunderdrainage system that kept water awayfrom the ground surface even during veryintense rainfall events. During excavationsconducted at Macchu Picchu’s main plaza itwas shown that the Inca engineers hadprovided underdrainage by placing stone chipsIAHR  G EA L  M A N AO BE N H A N C E D  G LOPO U PG R0quantificaflood risk ementmanagy encgemertion tion prioritizaes measur02ealitythe ro ecast tormodel ftic themaf the maoximity oellent prcxETION MODEL -DIMENSIONAL SIMULAWOTT DECISIONSARSMedsnee urutft the emetoed oducpred or orstbe t must er thatawf quantity oREGuserschainesby the eded er netawf quantity oONSdistribution er the entt must er thatawf quantity oTRcom sourrfwithdrawn must be t er thatawf quantity oCA UMPTIONCBUTIONIDISTIONAPTTIONAULODUCTIONPR00YT I B I L I TAO P E RI N T E R GEMENTANAT MARSMtionenerager wopodryf htion oomoprM E N T03GYT ENERARSMealin rlea-rcloseor timetionormatimizing infoptaessing daocpr ewledgmanaging knoATAManaging BIG DT I O N A L  P E R F O R M A N C EO P E R AouringavFT I O NO C AC E S  A L LR E S O U Rertatimizing wOpT I O NO G I C A L  S I T U AO M E T E O RH Y D Rthe basinwing Kno1 S T E M ST I O N  S YAI N F O R MTIONAT INFORMARSMNHISAD-CEenetwe beo find a balancte t makools thaechnological ttric dealers toelecdryvide hoPrTION MANAWER GENERAOPOTION OF HYDRTIMIZAe c a s to rFe o l o g i c a le rtM eecastorFand pricing)demandy (gEnerOCDECISIONSTIONALAOPERTICAOMUTAT DECISION SUPPORtric facilitiesoelecdryhf onomic viability oecpossible GEMENT M o d e lt i c a lt h e m am at i o nt i m i z aO pVINGSST SAGY ENERailabilityaves cesourer rtaed wecastorfecastortion feneraer gwopodryhtricity demandelecSTEMSYT PLANNINGSMAReprict imeTIONAIN POWER GENERY TER EFFICIENCAWhints to solve water-related problems in thepresent time! nReferencesBingham, H. (1913) In the wonderland of Peru.  National GeographicMagazine.  (Abril 23): 387-574.  Also available on the Internet (SeeInternet References). Delgado-Gutarra, Louise Enrique (2003)  Estudio de las GaleríasFiltrantes de Nazca.  Tesis para optar el Título Profesional deIngeniero Civil.  Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería – Facultad deIngeniería Civil. Lima, Peru. Rodríguez-Zubiate, Edgar (2005)  Las Galerías Filtrantes de Nazca.Ingeniería Civil.  Revista Técnica Nº 30.  Colegio de Ingenieros delPerú – Consejo Departamental de Lima.   Lima, Peru.Shady-Solís, R.; Cáceda-Guillén, D.; Crispín-Balta, A.; Machacuay-Romero, M.; Novoa-Bellota, P.; Quispe-Loayza, E. (2009) Caral laCivilización más Antigua de las Américas: 15 años develando suhistoria.  Proyecto Especial Arqueológico Caral-Supe.  InstitutoNacional de Cultura.  Lima, Perú. Wright, Kenneth and Valencia-Zegarra, Alfredo with Wright, Ruth yMcEwan, Gordon (2000) Macchu Picchu: A Civil EngineeringMarvel.   ASCE Press.  Reston, Virginia.  Estados Unidos deAmérica.Wright, Kenneth R. con McEwan, Gordon y Wright (2006) Tipón: Obramaestra de la ingeniería hidráulica del imperio de los incas.American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, Virginia. Edition inSpanish: Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería (2008).  Lima, Perú.Internet referencesNational Geographic Societyhttp://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/1913/04/machu-picchu/bingham-textProyecto Caralhttp://www.caralperu.gob.pe/caralperu/civilizacion/civilizaciongenetica.html75hydrolink number 3/2016

Historic examples of water management in pre-columbian andean society

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Historic examples of water management in pre-columbian andean society

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