Tlaloc, as shown in the late 16th century Codex Rios. Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain and
drought, was the patron god for the month Atlacacauallo which scholars believe roughly corresponds to our month of February. See story below.

Water Management Plans Have Common Ground

To most people -- if they thought about it at all -- water management is a relatively modern concept based, if not on scientific theories, then on tried-and-true, take-charge principles. At some point in the past, perhaps during the industrial revolution, management as a specialized activity took shape. Whereas people once made do or worked things out, they now managed.

Perhaps management should not be so narrowly defined. For example, water is managed when society takes certain actions intending to influence the occurrence, movement or collection of water. A recent book, Precolumbian Water Management: Ideology, Ritual, and Power, takes a broad view of water management to include water symbolism and ritual and the religious views of the times. (See page 8 for information about the book.) Not likely to be found in today's water management plans, these elements, which were understood to have power and influence, were sufficiently important to past cultures to be part of their water management plans.

In that sense, Tlaloc would certainly figure in the Precolumbian Aztec water management plan. The god of fertility and rain, Tlaloc, usually depicted as a goggle-eyed blue being with fangs, was believed to be responsible for both floods and droughts. To win his favor, humans were often sacrificed, usually children, by drowning. Prior to the sacrifice, the victims' tears would be collected in a ceremonial bowl as an offering.
Tlaloc lived in a place the Aztecs called Tlalocan, where all people who had drowned resided. He lived there with his companion, Chalchiuhtlicue, the goddess of freshwater lakes and streams. Theirs was a compatible relationship, with Tlaloc controlling the waters of the sky and Chalchiuhtlicue the terrestrial waters.

Even when considered an important element in Aztec water management, Tlaloc now holds more anthropological interest to us than hydrological. Science rules the day, and even if a few still might attribute hydrological powers to supernatural powers, Tlaloc would not likely be the role model.

Yet some commonality exists between Aztec water management and our own efforts to plan for and cope with the uncertainties of supplies. Throughout the ages availability of water has been a hit-and-miss goal, with supplies plentiful at times, sometimes too plentiful, and at other times unavailable and scarce. In their efforts to manage water supplies, whether by sacrificing to Tlaloc or other water lords or staking out active management areas, societies have come to share an understanding that human ingenuity and inspiration are essential to cope with the uncertainties of water supplies.

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