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The Acequia
Acequias were a progressive concept that allowed residents of the missions to use canals and ditches to provide water to crops in their fields.
The livelihood of residents of the missions was reliant upon the ability to ranch and farm. In the intense Texas heat, designers of the missions had to find a way to provide water for growing crops, thirsty animals and human needs like washing.
In order to bring water to the missions, builders installed a 15-mile network of dams, ditches and creeks to divert water from the San Antonio River and the San Pedro Creek to the missions and their fields. Floodgates regulated how much water was allowed into the fields from the acequia, the large ditch where the main supply of water was stored. Each mission had its own acequia.
Visitors to Mission San Francisco de Espada can still see the Espada Aqueduct, which is now the only functioning Spanish Colonial Period acequia in the United States. The aqueduct, which was completed in 1745, is also a National Historic Landmark and one of five National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks in the city of San Antonio.
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