A recent newspaper article in El País in Spain covered the views of two experts on the challenges climate change poses to cities. Elma Montaña is an expert in urban planning and global environmental change in arid lands, and forms part of the Cuyo Waters Lab.
Mendoza is a city located in the region of Cuyo, in the arid portion of South America. Through an ancestral system of acequias (canals) created by indigenous peoples and perfected by the Incas it became an “urban forest” which today we enjoy and value but which is also under threat.
The urban acequias of Mendoza, which add up to over 950 km of canals, are integrated into the structure of the city, watering more that 615,000 trees and making the city green. THis hydraulic system has been essential in the development of the city, especially in rebuilding after the 1861 earthquake, when the urban grid was redrawn and the hydraulic infrastructure modernized.
Despite the successful creation of a green oasis, the system faces challenges due growing water shortages, exacerbated by droughts and climate change. The overuse of hydraulic resources and the increase in urban population is putting the sustainability of this system into question. In addition, the presence of nonnative plants and the deeply unequal distribution of water affect the most vulnerable communities, especially indigenous communities which have insufficient access to water.
“The system is managed according to the 1884 law, which excluded indigenous peoples from water rights. When the Potrerillos dam was built, the agricultural use of water was made far more efficient, but the reduction in those inefficient ‘losses’ had a disproportionate impact on indigenous people trapped at the lower end of the water basin, who lost the water they needed to survive,” Montaña explains. She also notes that the model of “domination of nature,” based on 19th century positivism, is no longer viable. While changes are being carried out, like the removal of nonnative species and their replacement with low-consumption native species, there are still powerful challenges to finding a balance between urban growth, social well-being, and environmental sustainability.
In our publications you can find more clues about the imagination and worldbuilding that went into the creation of irrigated oasis as well as the policies that made them possible but today face enormous challenges.
Link to the full article: https://elpais.com/america-futura/2024-11-29/mendoza-una-ciudad-bosque-en-el-desierto-gracias-a-las-acequias-urbanas.html