Albarradas: pertinencia de los saberes ancestrales frente a la colonialidad del desarrolismo

Abstract

In the areas dominated by the “tropical dry forest”, on the Pacific Coast of Ecuador and North of Peru, traditional hydraulic systems known as “albarradas”, artificial water reservoirs, have been built and maintained for 3,500 years. They have allowed water supply in areas that are lacking it almost all year round. The communities are responsible for the application of specific techniques, the construction and maintenance of walls and drains, and for the water quality biocontrol mechanisms. Thus comunities are supplied with water and reproduce local agrobiodiversity. They are the fundamental support for the social, economic and environmental reproduction of the population. The advance of industrial undertakings and the presence of “multimodal” projects, together with land grabbing and the change of ownership, constitute severe threats to a strategic system for peasant life.