Peruvian amunas

The amunas, a word of Quechua origin from Peru that means "to retain", are a pre-Hispanic system of artificial recharge of aquifers through the planting and harvesting of water, which is still implemented by some Andean peasant communities of the aforementioned country, between the Puna area and Quechua. The operation of the system begins between the months of December and April with the “capture of the rains” and thaws in the upper part of the basin, where there are no crops but stone slopes and grasses. These waters are conducted through a network of ditches and/or unlined channels, to fractured, porous and rocky surfaces, from which they infiltrate into the mountainous aquifers. The work carried out in the upper part makes it possible to feed, gradually and uninterruptedly, the existing springs downstream and have this resource available during the months of August, September and October (dry season), just when planting begins. In this way, peasant families have a greater amount of water than they would have through natural infiltration.