ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on two regional examples of how the Maya addressed freshwater security: the Puuc-Nohkakab region in the northern Maya lowlands of the Yucatan Peninsula and the Peten Karst Plateau of the southern Maya lowland interior. The Puuc-Nohkakab forms a physiographic sub-region of the northern lowlands with very gently folded, bedded limestone and significant soil diversity including deep, well-drained, nutrient-rich soils with relatively high soil organic matter that rank among the lowlands' most productive. The Maya lowlands have high biodiversity. The chapter discusses how the water management system of case studies tracked in relation to increasing/decreasing freshwater security on the one hand and increasing/decreasing community wealth on the other. The relationship between freshwater security and community wealth is often assumed as one of linear co-dependency, each preconditioning the other. The chapter shows that freshwater security is determined from biophysical conditions, mainly, precipitation and surface and sub-surface water availability, and available hydro-technologies and institutions, which change over time.
