Ancestral Integrated Water Management Systems as Adaptation Tools for Climate Change: The “Acequias De Careo” and Historical Water Management of the Mecina River in Sierra Nevada (Granada, Spain)

Abstract

Historical water management systems, in operation since the Islamic period (eighth to fifteenth centuries), have generated important irrigated areas and transformed the landscapes in a co-evolutionary process over more than a thousand years. In the Sierra Nevada, the so-called acequias de careo stand out as a singular technical system for water recharge from the thaw. This way of managing surface- and groundwater, as well as soil and vegetation, while generating social, economic, and environmental benefits, is an example of Integrated Water Management and Nature-based Solutions. This system has proven its efficiency and resilience, having been operational since the Middle Ages. The abandonment of these water management systems is an irreparable cultural and environmental loss. The transdisciplinarity of this case study can be considered a success and a good example for its application in other geographical and cultural contexts promoting sustainable and resilience solutions based on historical socio-ecological systems and local ecological knowledge and practices.