Modeling Water Allocation and Scheduling in Canal System 2

Summary

A great deal of progress has been made in understanding the physical layout, paleohydraulics and sociopolitical organization of Hohokam Irrigation systems. A relatively comprehensive database now exists for Canal System 2 identifying the location of main canals and the configuration and size of canal channels. Models of the available discharge, or the quantity of water available at points along the main canals, have been constructed. However, our understanding of the sequencing and nature of water deliveries is limited at best. How did the Hohokam organize the delivery of water to individual fields and lateral canals? This paper examines possible models of water allocation and water scheduling in Canal System 2. The water requirements, including the quantity of water for specific irrigation cycles for maize agriculture, for individual fields is established. The duration and sequencing of water deliveries to fields along a lateral canal are examined. The potential patterns in the sequencing of water deliveries to the series of lateral canals along a main canal are explored. Finally, potential patterns of water distribution and scheduling for the entire irrigation system are suggested. The implications of these models for system operation, agricultural success and social organization are discussed.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Society and Economy in the Hohokam World: New Evidence and Insights from Canal System 2, Phoenix, Arizona

Keywords

Spatial Coverage