Learning from Water History: Utilizing Abundance, Managing Scarcity

It is water that bonds human beings with their planet. H2O has shaped our history: nomads move from water body to water body, settlers have built their societies along rivers and seashores. Conversely, droughts have led to disappearance of civilizations.

History bears testimony to man’s acumen for taming the 1.36 biilion cubic kilometres of freshwater on the earth. For thousands of years, he has been building mega dams, huge reservoirs, aqueducts and distribution systems that put rivers and lakes at our command in our kitchen sinks. Our modern infrastructure could only be built on the shoulders of giant projects undertaken in times when elephants and horses were the only known vehicles. The following videos showcase some examples:

It’s now 2011 and things are different. To us, technology is not just about moving the earth and turning the tides. We also seek to ‘conserve’ forests, ‘harvest’ rain, ‘‘prevent’ soil erosion , ‘reduce’ energy-use and ‘decrease’ emissions. The Water Management of today is more about managing scarcity than exploiting abundance. This is also reflected in the systems that we build, and the institutions that we develop to govern them. We need a different kind of ingenuity, a new kind of innovation.

The following videos showcase some innovations that reflect this change in how we think we should manage our water:

Again, history offers lessons in developing thrifty solutions for managing scarcity. A recent publication (“…Traditional Irrigation Systems and Methods of Water Harvesting…, ” Baquhaizel, Saeed & Ghouth, 2011) documents how societies from arid parts of Yemen developed efficient irrigation systems to best utilize scarce water resources, leading to green lands and civilized cities. Starting as early as 3,000 years ago!

(The book is available for download, in English and Arabic versions)

We would do well to remember these lessons. They show us that scarcity is a situation that could be managed thousands of years ago. And that our legacy is one of innovation/ ingenuity, that has helped us both master the elements as well as work with them.