Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Juan Carlos Trigueros Molina
Author-Name: Gregorio Canales
Title:  Gubernabilidad, gestiones hídricas y evolución histórica: El heredamiento de la acequia Andelma (1543-1800)
Abstract: Resumen:La acequia de la Andelma
es el principal sistema de riego de la ribera fluvial de Cieza (Murcia,
España). Lo que pretende en este estudio es
identificar y reconstruir su historia. Se analiza casi un total de cuarenta
documentos, procedentes de Protocolos Notariales (Archivo Histórico Provincial
de Murcia) y las Actas Capitulares del Ayuntamiento de Cieza durante el periodo
de la Edad Moderna. A través de estas fuentes podemos saber las gestiones
administrativas experimentadas, como también sus tres modelos de distribuciones
de agua y la importancia que tuvo la ampliación de su sistema de riego.Abstract:
Three reasons lead us to carry out the
following study on the Acequia de la Andelma de Cieza (Murcia, Spain), located
on the left bank of the River Segura and dating from the 10th century: The
importance it has in the formation of the cultural landscape of the area; the
lack of information presented in it during the Modern Age and previous stages:
and, 
and
for its economic and food contribution to the population.
            The
methodology that has been followed to build the article is as follows: first,
the bibliography about the area have been revised; second, it has begun for
almost two years a comprehensive, careful and systematic search on historical
documentary sources. Forty documents have been found: thirty of the Notarial
Protocols (Provincial Historical Archive of Murcia) and the rest of the Chapter
Acts of the Cieza Town Hall during the period of the Modern Age; the data have
been organized in a classification according to the centuries; afterwards, the
evaluation and analysis of each sample has been carried out, reviewing them in
a critical way and comparing them; and, finally, the construction of the study
and the bibliographical search have been carried out at the same time, with the
aim of enriching and contrasting the work.
The results are as follows: 1) Types of
government administration. 1.1) The first is centred on a period of the 16th
and 17th centuries, when the irrigation community granted the directional
authority of the whole canalisation system to individuals from outside the
entity. These individuals had a similar profile: they belonged to the local
elite of Cieza. The profitability of this contract was extracted in the zero
confrontation between the farmers, since they all started with the same rules,
limitations and fine. Therefore, it guaranteed the survival and collective
welfare. The disadvantage was based on the capacity to act and the initiatives
(regulations, restoration of all irrigation system) with the subject that had
agreed the commitment.  1.2) The interference
of the council at the end of the 17th century until 1800.  The powers were shared between the two
institution. The council initially acted to solve the internal problems of the
irrigation community. An example is the appointment of acquirers. These also
had three stages: Elected by the community's representative (1543-1663), by the
irrigation community itself (1676-1743) and by the municipal council
(1744-1800). The council also acted as a financial support body.  
2) Types of irrigation distribution: one is by
type of plantation depending on its harvesting characteristics (1543); another
is irrigation organised by site, from the head of the ditch to the tail of the
ditch, which was certainly a common practice at the time (1610); and finally,
the free flow due to the high amount of water that the ditch carried. This last
model was experimented with thanks to the new installation of the weir in the
middle of the 18th century.
3) The canalisation system didn´t cover the
entire irrigation basin. Its extension upstream in the 18th century is close to
the theories of the archaeologist Miquel Barcelo. The traditional canalisation
systems of an Islamic nature (azud, acequia) have been conceived and designed
by such a civilisation in the Mediterranean area from the beginning for their
eventual propagation and growth, especially in its upper zone. 
4) The irrigation community itself obtained
economic gains through the annual rate of the farmers and through the leases on
its farms, by converting them into land for livestock grazing. It offers a
functional strategy of double capital extraction. It should be added the power
to invest in structures with social purposes and services, such as the
construction of wooden boats to facilitate the passage of landowners from one
side of the Segura to the other.
Conclusions: The study
has been satisfactorily evaluated. First class information has been extracted
about the Andelma Irrigation Community. This is an irrigation entity which
underwent different processes of change and adaptation during the Modern Age
both in its administrative policy, irrigation distribution and its own
hydraulic system. An individual example of evolution, of adaptation of the
South East of Spain that has shaped a unique type of agricultural landscape.
Classification-JEL: R1
Keywords: gobiernos hídricos, tipos de distribuciones de agua, historia agraria, water governments, types of water distribution, agricultural history
Pages: 201-221
Volume: 3
Year: 2020
File-URL: http://www.revistaestudiosregionales.com/documentos/articulos/pdf-articulo-2604.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:rer:articu:v:3:y:2020:p:201-221