Chapter 1 Historical Perspective of Water Use and Development Prof. Dr. Ali El-Naqa Hashemite University June 2013

Chapter Headings Drinking Water for Early Civilizations Early Irrigation and Flood-Control Projects Early Water Transportation Development Early Hydropower Development

What is Civilization? For civilization to emerge you need Agriculture Cities Leisure time to develop skilled workers Among the key features are Ability to manage water Suitable soil and climate for agriculture

Managing Water Resources Even in the earliest civilizations we can find evidence of water management Delivery of drinking water to cities using qanats and aqueducts Routing of wastewater out of cities Delivery of water for agriculture through irrigation Transportation Hydropower

Drinking Water for Early Civilizations Earliest civilization centers emerged in: Mesopotamia along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (Iraq) Indus River (Pakistan) Yangtze River (China) Nile River (Egypt) Greek and Roman empires (Mediterranean)

Figure 1.1

Qanats Qanat system developed in Mesopotamia area From a Semitic word meaning to dig Semitic: subfamily of Afro-Asiatic language family that includes Hebrew and Arabic Delivered ground water by gravity from an upland area where it was plentiful to a lowland agricultural areas and cities

Bam, an ancient city in Iran was hit by an earthquake in December 2003

Transect of wells along a qanat near Bam

Earthquake caused qanats to collapse into sinkholes

Aqueduct Roman empire developed an extensive system of aqueducts to deliver surface water by gravity to cities Water was delivered to fountains and baths where citizens collected and used it Allowed cities to grow in size Reduced amount of time that individuals (usually women) spent obtaining daily water

Women at a stream collecting water to carry to their village in Cameroon UNESCO www.wateryear2003.org

Aqueduct in Segovia, Spain

Roman public fountain

Roman public bath at Pompei, Italy

Coaca Maxima (main sewer) for ancient Rome Example of routing wastewater away from cities http://courses.washington.edu/tande/urb/

Wind Gap Pumping Plant, Tehachapi Range north of LA California Aqueduct

Drinking Water Today Supplying drinking water is still an important function today Many problems Water quality (bacteria, carcinogens, heavy metals, etc.) Water quantity (competition with agricultural for water) Waste water treatment Well discuss these in later chapters

Chapter Headings Drinking Water for Early Civilizations Early Irrigation and Flood-Control Projects Early Water Transportation Development Early Hydropower Development

Early Irrigation and Flood Control Civilization centers developed where soils were fertile For soils to be fertile nutrients must be collected and deposited in an area so that they become concentrated Flooding deposits rich mountain (volcanic) soils in river floodplains Glaciers deposit rich mountain soils at their terminus and in wind blown loess

Early Irrigation and Flood Control Floodplains are often in dry areas that require irrigation Nile River civilization is a good example Sediments from the mountains of Ethiopia and Sudan are deposited in the floodplains of Egypt Ancient Egyptians developed an elaborate irrigation system for Nile floodplain

From Chapter 3

Simple devices for lifting water from the river into irrigation canals: shadoufs, tambour or Achimedes screw, and saqia water wheel

Ancient Egyptian painting of a shadouf

Early Irrigation and Flood Control Yangtze River was another river floodplain where civilization developed based on fertile soils and irrigation Annual rainfall varies between 5 and 32 inches History of devastating floods Construction of levees to control flooding

Emperor Yu gained fame for flood control measures starting around 2280 BC

Early Irrigation and Flood Control During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) chief water administrator in China advocated construction of huge stone levees along rivers Thought that confining flow of river in channel would cause faster flow and scour a deeper channel, ultimately reducing flooding Same theory was being applied along Mississippi River up to 1927 flood disaster (Rising Tide by John Barry)

Water wheel in use today in China

Early Irrigation in the U.S. Hohokam Indians near present day Phoenix developed large-scale irrigation system in the Salt River basin in 800 AD Anasazi Indians developed irrigation systems in Southwest desert region around 950 AD

Water. 1993. National Geographic Special Edition

Hohokam canal system: Salt River flows to the West

Hohokam canal near Mesa AZ; www.waterhistory. com

Anasazi dwellings at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, NM

R.G. Vivian, Chaco Canyon Handbook

Chaco Canyon irrigation R.G. Vivian, Chaco Canyon Handbook

Anasazi dwellings at Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Early Irrigation in the U.S. Brigham Young and Mormon followers began extensive irrigation system in Salt Lake Valley of Utah in 1847 Region receives 15 in of annual rainfall Constructed diversion dams across rivers and diverted water into irrigation ditches Small diversion dams were made of logs, rocks and brush Irrigation ditches were made using horse-drawn plows and hand digging

Early Irrigation in the U.S. Construction of an irrigation ditch was not simple A ditch too steep would cause fast flow that would erode the ditch and wash it out A ditch that was too flat would not move water Rule of thumb was a fall of about 2 feet per mile

Early Irrigation in the U.S. Homestead Act passed in 1862 Opened the floodgates of development in the West Anyone over the age of 21 could acquire ownership of 160 acres if Lived on it for 5 years Made improvements to the property Cost was $1.25 per acre Water for irrigation became a critical issue

Sears, Roebuck & Co. sold windmills to pump groundwater

Early Irrigation in the U.S. In 1870s Horace Greeley, editor of NY Tribune promoted settlement in the West with the phrase Go West, Young Man Time was ripe for western migration Civil War ended in 1865 Transcontinental railroad completed in 1869 Organized a settlement in Colorado (today called Greeley) to replicate the irrigation successes of Mormons in Utah

Early Irrigation in the U.S. Late 1800s was a period of unusually wet weather in West As normal rainfall returned many settlers without irrigation water were forced to abandon their land and move into town to work in other professions Drought period in 1930s forced more settlers to abandon land and become migrant workers Described in Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Central Arizona Irrigation Project

Irrigation Today Irrigation today is extensive in western U.S. and other areas of the world A number of associated problems Competition for water with urban sources Salinization of soils Sedimentation of reservoirs Effect on stream flow and water quality Will discuss these in later chapters

Chapter Headings Drinking Water for Early Civilizations Early Irrigation and Flood-Control Projects Early Water Transportation Development Early Hydropower Development

Early Transportation Development One of the reasons civilization centers developed near rivers is these were the interstates River and canal systems used for boat traffic Nile and Yangtze River are examples Later extensive canal system developed in Europe

Felucca on the Nile in Egypt

Grand Canal in China connects the Yangtze and Huang He (Yellow Rivers) http://www.discoveryangtze.com/Yangtzediscovery/the_grand_canal.htm

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) in Italy developed plans to improve navigation on the Arno River

Lock and lockkeepers house, Castlefield, England

Early Transportation Development Erie Canal constructed 1817-1825 Connected Buffalo on Lake Erie to Albany on Hudson River 363 miles Cut travel time from 20 days to 6 days Cut transportation costs from $100 to $5/ton Ohio & Erie Canal connected Ohio River to Lake Erie

Check Google map to see full extent of St. Lawrence River http://www.google.com/maphp?hl=en&tab=wl&q=

Lock and lockkeepers house on Ohio & Erie Canal near Akron, OH

Canal boat pulled by mules on towpath, Fulton, OH

Miraflores Lock, Panama Canal (mules on tracks)

Early Transportation Development Mississippi River has been through history and continues to be a major transportation system for U.S. Before steamboats keelboats and flatboats were used to move produce down river After steamboats developed (1810) traffic ran up and downstream Army Corps of Engineers responsible for clearing snags

Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, George Caleb Bingham

Jolly Flatboatmen, George Caleb Bingham

Water Transport Today Water transportation not as critical today due to rail and trucking industries Still a source of conflict Navigational needs vs. urban and agricultural use of water In 2003 Corp of Engineers released water from Lake Lanier and lower lakes to float barge traffic at Columbus Later that year drought conditions caused record low lake levels Well discuss this in later chapters

Chapter Headings Drinking Water for Early Civilizations Early Irrigation and Flood-Control Projects Early Water Transportation Development Early Hydropower Development

Early Hydropower Development Water wheels were used to grind grain as early as 100 BC in Greece Until the time of steam engines, water mills were a major source of energy By 1800 there were 500,000 water mills in Europe Mills ground corn and wheat, powered bellows and hammers to make iron, ground ingredients for paper, cut wood, and powered textile mills

Rock Run Grist Mill, Susquehanna State Park, MD overshot mill for grinding corn

Grist mill

Bottom millstone exposed

Littleton Mill undershot wheel, Littleton, NH

Laudermilk Mil, Clarkesville, GA

Textile mill diagram

Early Hydropower Development With the invention of the light bulb by Thomas Edison in 1879 hydropower began to be used to generate electricity One of the first generating plants was built at Niagara Falls to supply electricity to Buffalo NY Designed by George Westinghouse Hydropower production peaked in the 1940s when it provided 1/3 of electricity consumed in U.S.

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls (right), American Falls (left), and Bridal Veil Falls (small falls just to the right of American Falls) Hydroelectric plant was to the left of American Falls? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls

Two inlets above the fall diverted water into canals (right photo # 1 & 2); water flowed down canals to power houses (left diagram) http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/exhibits/panam/sel/electricity.html

George Westinghouse, 1846-1914

Westinghouse turbine, 1925

Hoover Dam generators

Hydropower Today Hydropower is still important but ability to transmit electricity is making some dams less critical Movement to remove dams in some cases Focus on environmental impact of dams on fish such as salmon Well discuss this in later chapters

Chapter 1 Summary Management of water resources has been a hallmark of civilizations throughout history Water managed to provide drinking water, irrigation, flood control, navigation, and power Although weve been managing water for centuries, many old and new problems now confront us

Chapter 1 Quiz 1. Name four purposes for which water resources have been managed through history? 2. Name three early centers of civilization. 3. What were mills used for historically? 4. What is required for soils to be fertile (rich in nutrients) in the absence of fertilizers?