The historic Spanish Colonial Upper Labor Dam was begun in 1776 and diverted water from the San Antonio River into an acequia that watered the Upper Labor farm lands (a block of farm land). Used by the growing civil settlement, the acequia ran through what is today’s park, through the San Antonio Zoo towards San Pedro Creek. During park renovation in the 1990s, the stone dam was partially excavated, documented, and covered for protection. The original stone‐lined acequia channel remains intact, and you can see it in both the Park and San Antonio Zoo! The Lily Pond supplies the water to the acequia, and the lower end of the acequia opens and releases water through the Zoo, which is pretty cool to see.
The acequia has been around so long that some of the walls are deteriorating and in need of repair. Many large trees have grown up near the walls and have contributed to the wall deterioration as well as surface drainage from paved areas up slope of the acequia. The acequia is composed of grouted stone walls.
