The analysis in this article contrasts indigenous irrigation systems with modern water engineering in Peru to denaturalize and de-normalize the binary gendered associations through which the modern engineering water profession has come to be defined. We present evidence that suggests a gradual historical change in the main source(s) and bearers of water authority in Peru; from the divine to science and from priests to modern engineers. This change has gone accompanied with a distinct masculinization of formal water rights and powers. Yet, remnants from the earlier and more gender-dual past remain visible in actual water distribution and governance processes, which mix and combine more modern engineering knowledges with insights from Inka and pre-Inka histories. By not a priori singling out men as the privileged bearers of water expertise or authority, these hybrid forms of water management in Peru may provide promising entry-point for designing and constructing systems that are better attuned to the combined goals of environmental sustainability and social equity, while also helping make the water engineering profession more hospitable to women and ‘non-modern’ men.

本文的分析将秘鲁的灌溉系统与秘鲁的现代水工程进行了对比，以对二元性别协会进行自然化和反规范化，从而定义了现代工程水行业。我们提供的证据表明秘鲁主要水源和水权持有者的历史逐渐变化；从神圣到科学，从牧师到现代工程师。这种变化伴随着正式的水权和权力的明显男性化。但是，在更实际的水分配和治理过程中，仍然可以看到更早和更性别双重的过去的残留物，这些残留物将更多的现代工程学知识与印加和印加前的历史相结合。