Past Water Futures

02/09/2026

Sampling at another peatland in the Chicha-Soras Vallley, Apurímac, Peru. An excellent sequence for tracking the environmental history and especially the relationship between peatlands and water heritage. Also collecting water samples for chemistry and isotopic analysis to evaluate water quality and source. Thanks to the British Academy for the funding.

01/09/2026

Team photograph from today’s research work in the Chicha-Soras Valley, Apurimac, Peru. Project funded by the British Academy, UK, on water heritage. Here we have completed surveying a peatland with excellent evidence of water management- ancient and modern.

28/08/2026

28/08/2026

A selection of photographs from the inauguration ceremony following the rehabilitation of the pre-Hispanic dam at Shuklloc, Ancash region, Peru on 27th August 2026. Funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation and McKnight Foundation. The dam and new water reservoir, as well as adjacent peatlands, provide much needed water for the community of Cajamarquilla (livestock drinking water and grazing, and irrigation water for cultivation) in the face of growing pressures on water due to climate change. Thank you to William Branch, Hayley Wooldridge, Anna Leigh and Nick Branch for the photographs.

28/08/2026

Here are some photographs from our workshop in Huaraz, Ancash region, Peru on 26th August 2026. Over 60 people in attendance to discuss water heritage and climate change. Thank you to NGOs UCOOPIA and DIACONIA, and Association Andina Cusichaca, for organising the logistics. Thank you to the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK) for the funding. It was an excellent opportunity to launch our Policy Briefing on water heritage in Peru with various water agencies and community representatives in attendance.

23/08/2026

Our team is about to meet in Lima for the start of 3 weeks of research in the Regions of Ancash, Ayacucho and Apurimac. Kevin Lane and Jen Grant (University of Buenos Aires - CONICET), Cirilo Vivanco and Dannal Aramburu (University of Huamanga), Rodolfo Monteverde Sotil and Diana Santos, Yenica Huerta (Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo National University), Christian Florencio (UCOOPIA), Vima Mergarejo (DIACONIA), Douglas Walsh (AAC), Thibault Saintenoy (Spanish Research Council), and Joy Singarayer and Nick Branch (University of Reading). As well as Rob McCourt and Jemima McCourt (Close Up Productions), three former students of the University of Reading - Hayley Wooldridge, Carla Sanchez-Pereira and Anna Leigh, and William Branch (about to join University of Oxford).
Thanks for the funding from Arts and Humanities Research Council and British Academy, and McKnight Foundation, Harte Family Fund and Gerda Henkel Fund.

17/08/2026

A selection of photos from our recent work with the community of Cajamarquilla, Ancash Region, Peru. The work was in advance of the rehabilitation of the pre-Hispanic micro-dam at Shuklloc. It involved the installation of water level sensors and a meteorological station, and the collection of water samples for isotopic analysis and chemistry, and sediment samples from the peatlands for hydro-biogeochemistry. Outstanding collaboration between NGOs UCOOPIA and DIACONIA, INIA and Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo National University, Universidad de Buenos Aires-CONICET (Argentina) and University of Reading (United Kingdom).