The management of the cleaning of an irrigation ditch in a city in the desert: The visits of the authorities to the Huatica canal of colonial Lima

Abstract

The Rímac river basin provided the colonial city of Lima with water and the amount of liquid in the basin varied according to the season. The flow was high in the southern summer, January to March, and low in the winter. In other words, the river fluctuated from dry to overflowing when it could cause damage to its riverbanks and even overflow by what was protected by retaining walls, called tajamares, in which a lot of money was spent to contain its fury. This habitual behavior of the presence or absence of water in the Rímac basin allowed the authorities to establish cleaning and maintenance dates for the Huatica ditch, which crossed the upper neighborhoods of the city, between May and September. The water that circulated through the Huatica allowed the irrigation of farms and farms and provided the hydraulic power for the wheat mills, but for it to be operational the channel had to be sanitized, with all the necessary paraphernalia to keep it in good condition. The authorities and residents cooperated financially so that the water that flowed through the Huatica ditch did not overflow and was captured in the amount that each one had assigned, according to documentation.