“EL VALLE BAJO”: A PRODUCTIVE RURAL VALLEY

Rural development project through irrigation channels

Abstract

The relationship between water and territory has always been and continues to be crucial. However, the dynamics derived from urbanization and industrialization processes and the impact of climate change have damaged an already increasingly scarce resource, which shapes one of the great challenges to overcome today. When we talk about water in our cities, we should no longer do it from an innovative logic but from a point of view of responsible perspective. Therefore, the reconstruction of the irrigation canals of Capinota, in Bolivia, aims to give value to the cultural landscape of water and to renew water management in order to reclaim the historical relationship between the territory and the river, which contributes to the strengthening of the local structure and new dynamics for rural development. The mere generation of cartography and the irrigation architectures build up a story that places water at the center of the project while emphasizing how important is the restoration of the canal, thus improving the water quality and management and strengthening the development of the region and the local community empowerment.