Past Water Futures: Rehabilitating Ancient Dams for Present Use

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Equity in the Archaeology of Disaster, Past, Present, and Future" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Water is essential for life on earth. In the twenty-first century, water scarcity is increasingly seen as the main threat to human world economies. This is especially true of the Peruvian Central Andean highlands where lack of water is understood by experts as the single most threatened natural resource in the face of climate change and ever-retreating tropical glaciers, a sentiment echoed by local governments and especially rural communities. The Past Water Futures project is engaged in the rehabilitation of ancient dams for modern use in the Ancash region of north-central Peru. Our project addresses the live issue of water security and community resilience in the rural Andes. Ancient dams represent a tried-and-tested answer to water scarcity in the region. Ancient dam rehabilitation is a community-led, low-carbon, low-cost, and low-maintenance alternative to modern cement micro-dams, providing clean water, local economy growth, and protection of the natural and heritage environment. We contend that modern engineering can only provide partial solutions to increasing water fragility in the Andes, and that the marriage between past and present knowledge and technology can deliver a better, locally informed answer to future water stress and climate change in the Cordillera Negra and further afield.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Equity in the Archaeology of Disaster, Past, Present, and Future   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37785.0