Objective/Context:

This article analyzes the evolution and history of water uses of the Bogotá River and its basin, with a special focus on irrigation uses. Throughout the twentieth century, these uses maintained competition for water resources against aqueduct service and electric power generation uses for the city of Bogotá.

Methodology:

The article reconstructs water uses for irrigation from the Bogotá River and its basin during the twentieth century from the creation of the La Ramada irrigation district to its operation at present by entities such as the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Cundinamarca (car, for its initials in Spanish). For this purpose, it uses the publications of engineer and farmer associations and state officials in charge of agricultural promotion.

Originality:

Given the prominence that the Savannah of Bogotá region-corresponding to the basin of the river of the same name-has had in environmental history studies in Colombia, this article examines modern irrigation uses of the Bogotá River, in comparison with the most studied uses that correspond to aqueduct services and electric power generation, which allowed understanding not only the subordination of natural resources such as water in the Savannah of Bogotá to the urban growth of Bogotá, but also the conflict of assigning priorities between these uses.

Conclusions:

The article aims to visualize the importance of irrigation uses of the Bogotá River and its basin within multiple works of modern hydraulic engineering that have sought to exploit and conserve water in the region. It also highlights the importance of considering these uses for more detailed studies of environmental history in the future.

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