History of Water Management Technologies Research Paper

History of Water Management Technologies - Research Paper Example Water history and its management are of a paramount importance to us. Water history gives us a clue as to how water management policies and technologies overtime transformed the states and life of the people. Stepwells of Rajasthan in India are embodiment of such great traditions in managing the water resources at local level. The paper is an attempt to explore how and what kind of water management technologies evolved over several centuries since the time of early civilization. Early Water Management Devices– Saqiya, Noria, Qanat The beginning of agricultural practices that started after a long period of hunting and foraging has a lot to do with evolving of numerous water management technologies. The agriculture as a means for subsistence led to the digging of canals, wells, drains. That further necessitated the discovery of numerous water-lifting devices as community-based agriculture further expanded in the different parts of world. That is how the devices such as saqiya an d noria came into existence. Qanats built during 500 BCE is an indication that how water technologies started taking forefront in developing agriculture as a means for subsistence. Water Management during Mesopotamian Civilization Initial efforts to control flow of water were done in early civilization of Mesopotamia and Egypt. The remains of those canals can still be found. It should be noted that every city of the Sumer and Akkud dating 4000 years BCE had a canal getting water from the Euphrates River. Mari had several cisterns and had extended collection system to harness rain water. Habuba Kebira (modern Turkey) had Terracotta pipes for transporting water. The shaduf as a water-lifting device from one level to another had its origin in Mesopotamia which later spread to Greece and other parts of Europe. The shaduf usually provides lift of 3 meter and can deliver 500-2500 liters per day (Mays a) Water Management by Indus-Valley Civilization Mohenjo-Daro as the part of Indus Civili zation was built around 2450 BCE. The city had 700 brick-lined wells and it was located in the semi-arid region. The construction of their bath platforms did indicate that water consumption was huge. During those times the city was provided with effluent drains made of brick masonry and stretched along one side of the street with removable covers made of wooden boards or loose bricks. Wall drain chutes were employed so that effluent could flow in a catchment basin. Water management was so elaborate that they had bathrooms in their houses and sewer system in streets. That was perhaps the oldest well-built water collection and disposal system in operation (Mays b). Canals in the Americas – Innovative Water Managementways The earthen canals in Americas are found dating back 6000 to 4500 years in the Central Andean Cordillera region on the banks of Rio Nanchoc River and the canals were used for irrigation to grow peanuts, coca, and cotton crops. Canals in Mesoamerica go back to t he time of 1200 BCE. Water wells in San Marcos, dams, reservoirs, drains and canals were the part of water management system in Morelos, Oaxaca (Dillehay). Water Management by Qanats Qanat fulfilled the need of irrigation in ancient Persia. They are basically underground tunnel taking advantage of gravity flow from the higher elevations to the lower plains. Qanats are equipped with the vertical shafts to provide for lighting and air circulation. The longest (71 kilometer) and oldest (more than 3000 years old) qanat is found at the ancient city of Zarch in Persia. Even today, more than 30,000 qanats are in operation in Iran. The qanat technology spread during Persian rule. In different civilizations, it came to be known with different names such as Karez in Afghanistan