Mapping Flood Control at Colonial Mexico City: The Maps of Enrico Martínez and Juan Gómez de Trasmonte

This paper analyzes the maps produced by Enrico Martínez and Juan Gómez de Trasmonte for the purposes of flood control at colonial Mexico City. What is significant about these maps is that they represent the two most divergent proposals for flood prevention. In 1607, Martínez proposed and received approval to drain the lakes surrounding the city, an undertaking commonly referred to as the desagüe. The desagüe plan entailed building a canal and tunnel to discharge waters from Lake Zumpango into the Gulf of Mexico. Work began in November 1607 and was completed in only ten months, but failed to prevent flooding. In 1614, the Dutch engineer Adrian Boot arrived at Mexico City to assist Martínez and soon after dismissed the desagüe as a possible solution. Instead, Boot proposed to only drain the water that could potentially harm the city and regulate the rest, by introducing the latest hydraulic technology used in Holland (dredges, cranes, and pumps, among others). In 1628, Boot commissioned the architect Juan Gómez de Trasmonte to produce a map of the city showing his plan at work. Although neither project achieved its goal of flood prevention, the maps by Martínez and Trasmonte are significant for two reasons. First, they illustrate two contrasting epistemological frameworks at work relative to flood control, and second, each epitomizes a perspective about the city and its aquatic condition.