One of the most important parts of a mission is its water system, with out it they would have surely failed as a mission because they would not have had water to irrigate their crops as well as bring them water for their families and their livestock. An acequia was used through out all of the missions in one way or another. 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 for all the missions. The main acequia that is part of the San Antonio Missions is the Espada Aqueduct, which serves water to The San Francisco de la Espada Mission. Completed in
1740, the acequia diverted river water from the San Antonio River into an acequia madre (mother ditch). 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, that which was like the environment here in Texas. 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 network that irrigated approximately 3,500 acres of land. The dam, ditch, and aqueduct survived a century of Indian attacks, ravaging floods, and controversy before the dam was repaired, in 1895. The dam had a huge impact on the missions Indians because it was there only source of water. With out it they would have been unable to bring water to irrigate there crops and would not have had the food necessary to feed there friends and family in the mission. You can just imagine what it would have been like without the acequia to bring them water, despite the hard work they put into building it. It is still in operation, but now plays a secondary role beside the modern dam. This water is used by residents living on these neighboring lands, for their water source and also for irrigating their farmlands all around the area. The people that lived in the missions before still live on in their decedents today as well as their culture lives on in the people today.
One of the most important parts of a mission is its water system, with out it they would have surely failed as a mission because they would not have had water to irrigate their crops as well as bring them water for their families and their livestock. An acequia was used through out all of the missions in one way or another. 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 for all the missions. The main acequia that is part of the San Antonio Missions is the Espada Aqueduct, which serves water to The San Francisco de la Espada Mission. Completed in 
1740, the acequia diverted river water from the San Antonio River into an acequia madre (mother ditch). 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, that which was like the environment here in Texas. 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 network that irrigated approximately 3,500 acres of land. The dam, ditch, and aqueduct survived a century of Indian attacks, ravaging floods, and controversy before the dam was repaired, in 1895. The dam had a huge impact on the missions Indians because it was there only source of water. With out it they would have been unable to bring water to irrigate there crops and would not have had the food necessary to feed there friends and family in the mission. You can just imagine what it would have been like without the acequia to bring them water, despite the hard work they put into building it. It is still in operation, but now plays a secondary role beside the modern dam. This water is used by residents living on these neighboring lands, for their water source and also for irrigating their farmlands all around the area. The people that lived in the missions before still live on in their decedents today as well as their culture lives on in the people today.
