IRRIGATION

The irrigation systems that were put in place throughout the Inca empire were extremely important in the success of their society. The Inca created a system to bring the water from the mountains into the cities, for both agricultural and personal use. There were various aqueducts which were located near the mountains, paired with a system of canals either built with stones or carved right into rock. Canals carved directly into rock were better as they minimized any possible leakage that could occur with the stone blocks. The canals transported water either to the agricultural terraces for farming, or to fountains for people to use in their day-to-day lives. The Inca irrigation system was very well-made, and is still in use today. In order to build such an extensive and successful irrigation system, the Inca had to plan and map out their land to ensure that it everything worked properly. Such a feat would have taken an incredible amount of communal organization to plan such a project and many people in order to build it.