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Ancestral Techniques of Water Sowing and Harvesting in Ibero-America: Examples of Hydrogeoethical Systems

Abstract:

Water sowing and harvesting (WS&H) consists of a series of ancestral procedures by which humans collect and infiltrate (sow) rainwater and runoff underground, so as to recover (harvest) it downgradient at some later time. This management of the water has made it possible for various regions of Ibero-America that is, Latin America plus the Iberian Peninsula to overcome dramatic cultural and climatic changes over the centuries. The principles governing WS&H coincide with those pursued under the present paradigm of Integrated Water Resource Management. Moreover, WS&H implies a better use of water and enhanced conservation of the environment and patrimony, as well as recognition of rural communities as vital custodians of the land and of its relevant cultural aspects. The main WS&H systems that serve Ibero-American countries are described here, emphasizing the principles underlying this means of water management as exemplary of hydrogeoethical systems.