Somos FCC - Nº5

From the first water collected from the springs of the Andarax River in the 10th century to the present day, the constant search for water and the im- provement of the facilities has been a firm commitment in the history of Al- mería. Today, twenty-five years later, the future of water in Almeria for the nearly 200,000 people living in the city is guaranteed. The improvements in quality and service made in recent years and the infrastructures built and put in place, strengthen the develo- pment and welfare of Almeria and its residents. The essential role of water in Al- mería Since the Muslim presence in Spain, the role of water has been paramount in Almeria. Almería, whose name is derived from the Andalusian Arabic “Al-mariyya” which means lookout point, been considered a dry area, where water has always been a scar- ce commodity. The construction of the cisterns in the 11th century, ordered by Jairán, the first king of the Kingdom of Taifa de Almería, was the main source of water supply to the city until the 16th century, when the irrigation ditches were divided into two parts: irrigation and consumption for the citizens. In this century, the first ordinances were implemented for the administration and use of water in the countryside. In the first third of the 17th century, due to a few years of severe drought, it was decided to change the water distribution system from a shift to an hourly one. However, the greatest change that the city experienced took place in the 19th and 20th centuries with the covering of the galleries, the construction of large infrastructures and the setting up of a water distribution system to fountains and private homes. Built in 1888, the Santa Isabel water tanks are the architectural jewel of Almería The construction of the Santa Isabel storage tanks in 1888, a true archi- tectural jewel in the city’s history, was essential for supplying water to the city and for the first time in its history, La Pipa reservoir, also known as the Pipa Gardens. C O M M U N I T I E S 54 C O M M U N I T I E S