GOD & TEXAS: Amazing Acequias

For almost 300 years, the acequia that serves Mission Espada in San Antonio has continued working as designed. It is truly a marvel of human engineering. The word acequia is derived from the ancient Arabic term al-sāqiyah, which means water conduit. The acequias were gravity flow ditches used by the ancient Moors of North Africa to irrigate fields and bring water to settlements.

In the early17th Century, the Spanish padres brought this technology into the New World and guided the friendly indigenous tribes in their construction. Though the acequias varied in size, those in South Texas were usually about three feet wide and two feet deep.

By the early 1800s, San Antonio had seven original Spanish acequias that crisscrossed the city. The over 50 miles of canals were fed from diversion dams built on the San Antonio River and the San Pedro Springs. Today, only the San Juan and Espada acequias are in use.

The acequias of San Antonio had both geographic and cultural impacts on the city. Historians say that some of the original streets of Fort Worth shadowed well-worn cattle trails, while those of Dallas followed ancient Caddo Indian trails. Comparably, many of the streets of San Antonio were designed around the meandering acequias as they gently flowed southward along the terrain.

Also, the culture of early San Antonio was deeply affected by the acequias. Their generative stream irrigated the parched crops and quenched the thirst of the citizenry. When the acequias accumulated debris, a day of festivity was called for all the residents to gather at the acequias to clean and repair them as necessary. The peón and the aristocrat stood side by side cleaning out the system that brought them life.

The acequias provided common ground for all individuals, regardless of their background or circumstances. Where the water flowed, life sprung up and was sustained. And where there was life, there was hope for a better tomorrow.

Still today, many residents of the Alamo City celebrate Día de la Limpia, an annual day of cleaning of the surviving acequias of debris. The celebration not only revitalizes the acequias but reminds the community that they have a mutual responsibility to each other.

This vital truth is a frequent theme in scripture. We read in Ecclesiastes 4:9- NIV - “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

The Apostle Paul cautioned in 1 Corinthians 1:10 NIV, “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

May the testament of the acequias remind us that we need each other every day.

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