Enter Lo—TEK Water: A Field Guide for TEKnology, a visionary exploration of ancestral water wisdom seamlessly interwoven with contemporary innovation to create regenerative water systems that nurture both human and ecological communities. This field guide documents Indigenous water technologies across diverse ecosystems—from salty coastal reefs to freshwater wetlands—and highlights contemporary architectural and ecological projects inspired by TEK, demonstrating that nature-based water design is fundamental to climate adaptation and urban resilience.
 
Structured to bridge past and future, the book is co-authored with Indigenous knowledge keepers to honor cultural integrity and ecological specificity. It situates ancestral aquatic infrastructures within key global climate frameworks, such as the FAO’s water–energy–food nexus, the IPCC’s sea level rise adaptation strategies, and the World Bank’s nature-based solutions. From the chinampas of Mexico and the sangjiyutang dike-ponds of China, to the baira floating farms of Bangladesh and tidal fish traps of Micronesia, the book showcases diverse aquatic systems that harness natural cycles to regenerate landscapes, support biodiversity, and secure food and water sovereignty. The second half shifts focus to 22 cutting-edge design projects that incorporate TEK principles—ranging from reed insulation in Peruvian housing to floating treatment wetlands in the United States—illustrating how ancestral knowledge continues to inspire transformative water design worldwide. The book concludes with extended frameworks including the Lo—TEK City Model, and the Smart Oath of Understanding (SOU), offering scalable, ethical tools to embed TEK in global urbanism and environmental stewardship.
 
With a foreword by Dr. Lyla June Johnson (Diné/Tsétsėhéstȧhese), this volume invites architects, planners, policymakers, and communities to embrace water as a co-creator and to cultivate cities and landscapes that thrive through ancestral resilience. Lo—TEK Water is not just a field guide—it is a call to listen, learn, and design with the elemental intelligence of water that has sustained life for thousands of years.