Large Water Projects

Date = February 6, 2014
tags <ESM102>

Large Water Projects Held Civilizations Together

• Aztec
• Mayan
• Anasazi in Chaco (New Mexico)

but also may have been the seed for their collapse

Current Large Water Projects Serve Many Purposes

Dams/Reservoirs/hydro-electric/transportation/flood control

• TVA
• Columbia Basin

Aqueducts

• California Aqueduct - 1150 km
  • map
• China South to North project > 1200 km

Natural systems

• Everglades

 

Drinking water supply for major cities - a comparison

• Portland - Bull Run Watershed
• Los Angeles -system of ground water reservoirs and transfers
• New York City - resestablished a watershed for the city's purposes

Environmental impact of these technologies are also large

I=PAT

large and irreversible (essentially)