La construcción y ampliación de los regadíos tradicionales e históricos en la Vega Alta de Segurasucesión de azudes y acequias, artilugios hidráulicos escalonados y motores de elevación de aguas

Abstract

The extension of historical and traditional irrigation in La Vega Alta de Segura: Succession of irrigation dams and irrigation channels, stepped water devices, and mechanically-powered water lifting devices. To use the waters from the River Segura at its high course (from the source in Pontones to La Contraparada, dam at the beginning of the Huerta de Murcia) for irrigation, human groups have devised a series of techniques to divert water along the banks (“draining” of the Segura) to irrigate the nearest land: through a succession of irrigation dams and channels stepped according to the slope. Later, some of the dams were removed and the channels extended, and even several of these water systems were joined once it was possible to “strengthen” the dams and undermine the rocky spurs of the straits. To conquer the slopes above the channel path, a series of water lifting devices were installed (different types of water wheels, hand pumps, etc.), some of which are still in use today, such as low current wheels (in Abarán there are four). At the end of the 19th century and in the early 20th, several of these water lifting devices were replaced by steam engines and other types of engines (heavy oil, producer gas, diesel, petrol, and electric motor) to lift the water higher, and even out of the limited framework of the valley (such as the “Motor Resurrección” and others). It was possible to go from occasional to permanent irrigation and extend the irrigated areas thanks to the network of dams along the River Segura (Fuensanta, Cenajo) and tributaries like El Mundo (Talave, Camarillas), turning it into one of the most regulated rivers of the Mediterranean Basin, altering its natural regime, and adapting it to crop demands on its fertile plains. There is a whole typology of irrigation systems according to the origin of the water: surface runoff of the Segura and its network of tributaries, sources and springs, groundwaters and deep aquifers. According to their location in the valley, we have: low channel irrigation (river banks and nearby terraces), lift irrigation with traditional devices (terraces up to 25 metres high), and with pumping units (higher parts of the valley and even outside it)