Espada Acequia - Irrigation System

Irrigation System

Mission Espada's acequia (irrigation) system can still be seen today. The main ditch, or acequia madre, continues to carry water to the mission and its former farmlands. This water is still used by residents living on these neighboring lands.

The initial survival of a new mission depended upon the planting and harvesting of crops. In south central Texas, intermittent rainfall and the need for a reliable water source made the design and installation of an acequia system a high priority. Irrigation was so important to Spanish colonial settlers that they measured cropland in suertes -the amount of land that could be watered in one day.

The use of acequias was originally brought to the arid regions of Spain by the Romans and the Moors. When Franciscans missionaries arrived in the desert Southwest they found the system worked well in the hot, dry environment. In some areas, like New Mexico, it blended in easily with the irrigation system already in use by the Puebloan Native Americans.

In order to distribute water to the missions along the San Antonio River, Franciscan missionaries oversaw the construction of seven gravity-flow ditches, dams, and at least one aqueduct--a 15-mile (24 km) network that irrigated approximately 3,500 acres (14 km2) of land.

Espada, unlike nearly all the other missions in Texas, was a success. Originally put in place by Spain as a picket intended to delineate a northern frontier, most of the missions were only temporarily successful as community centers. The Alamo, by the time of the famous battle in 1836, had already been abandoned for three generations. The acequia not only conducted potable water and irrigation, but also powered a mill at Espada. Mission Espada has survived from its beginnings to the present day as a community center that supports a school and a church.