Chapter Seven: Waterwheel, Plow, Cargo Ship, and the Awakening of Europe The key technical breakthrough: White, Medieval Technology, Medieval Technology, 43. The plow had three main functioning parts. The coulter, or heavy knife, was attached to the pole of the plow and cut into the earth. Set at a right angle to the coulter was a flat plowshare that dug into the turf horizontally. The moldboard turned the unearthed clods to the side. After the stiff, nonchoking horse collar was introduced into western Europe before the tenth century, horses increasingly replaced oxen as the favored plow animals. 43. The plow had three main functioning parts. The coulter, or heavy knife, was attached to the pole of the plow and cut into the earth. Set at a right angle to the coulter was a flat plowshare that dug into the turf horizontally. The moldboard turned the unearthed clods to the side. After the stiff, nonchoking horse collar was introduced into western Europe before the tenth century, horses increasingly replaced oxen as the favored plow animals.drier and milder climate: Gimpel, 2930, 205206. The advance and retreat of the Fernau glacier over 3,000 years suggested that the first millennium BC was a cold period, followed by a warming trend in late Roman times. The medieval warm period lasted from about AD 750 to 1215, followed by a brief cold spell until 1350, and may have contributed to the conditions that produced the Black Death. The Little Ice Age in Europe from 1550 to 1850 was followed by a century-long warming trend.south of the Loire River and Alps: Ibid., 44.new cog: The cogs were clinker-built, meaning that the planks overlapped, like tiles on a roof. Originally, the cogs had been flat-bottomed for easy landing on natural shorelines, but as they grew larger they became harder to control and inadequate for use in the growing number of improved ports.Cologne, situated at the juncture: Braudel, Structures of Everyday Life, Structures of Everyday Life, 51. 51.85 percent of commercial traffic: Gies and Gies, 221. Weirs are small obstructions that block part of a waterway, often for multiple purposes such as to maintain current flow speed for waterwheels and sufficient depth for navigation."Commerce between": Lopez, 8687.built by monastic orders: Interestingly, the relationship of monks with bridges had an Eastern parallel with Buddhist monks, who built and maintained many of the suspension bridges across Himalayan passes as part of their duties.several times more powerful: Estimates of waterwheel power vary greatly. Wheel size, the construction material, the angle and timing of water entry to its blade, and streamflow rate all affect output. Gies and Gies, 3436, 115; Braudel, Structures of Everyday Life, Structures of Everyday Life, 371; Smith, 371; Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 143, 145; Williams, 5455. 143, 145; Williams, 5455.Leonardo da Vinci: Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 147; Gies and Gies, 258, 265. Da Vinci rejected the popular and incorrect view of contemporaries that water-power offered a key to perpetual motion, and understood the basic physics that water's work potential depended much upon its fall minus the wheel's frictional resistance and that of the machinery it powered. He understood that efficiency depended upon the angle of the water's impact with the wheel's blades. His theory that the overshot wheel was the most efficient form was not supported by any mathematical quantifications; that was left to John Smeaton, the father of modern civil engineering, in his experiments in the mid-eighteenth century. Leonardo's drawings offered one of the earliest models of the highly efficient breast wheel, in which the water strikes blades positioned at ten o'clock and two o'clock. 147; Gies and Gies, 258, 265. Da Vinci rejected the popular and incorrect view of contemporaries that water-power offered a key to perpetual motion, and understood the basic physics that water's work potential depended much upon its fall minus the wheel's frictional resistance and that of the machinery it powered. He understood that efficiency depended upon the angle of the water's impact with the wheel's blades. His theory that the overshot wheel was the most efficient form was not supported by any mathematical quantifications; that was left to John Smeaton, the father of modern civil engineering, in his experiments in the mid-eighteenth century. Leonardo's drawings offered one of the earliest models of the highly efficient breast wheel, in which the water strikes blades positioned at ten o'clock and two o'clock.ocean-tide-powered mills: White, Medieval Technology, Medieval Technology, 84, 85. In the eleventh century, there were tide-powered mills near Venice on the Adriatic and at the mouth of the port of Dover in England. 84, 85. In the eleventh century, there were tide-powered mills near Venice on the Adriatic and at the mouth of the port of Dover in England.king hastened the surrender: The king was Philip Augustus; the town, Gournay (near Beauvais); and the author, William the Breton. Smith, History of Dams, History of Dams, 144. 144.half a million water mills: Braudel, Structures of Everyday Life, Structures of Everyday Life, 358. 358.description of a contemporary: Mumford, 258259; see also Gies and Gies, 114116, and Gimpel, 6668.one silk mill: Gies and Gies, 178179; Lopez, 133135; White, Medieval Technology, Medieval Technology, 44. The earliest referenced water-powered fulling mills in Europe date to 983 in Tuscany, 1108 in a Milan monastery, 1010 in Germany, between 1040 and 1050 in Grenoble, and 1080 in Rouen. 44. The earliest referenced water-powered fulling mills in Europe date to 983 in Tuscany, 1108 in a Milan monastery, 1010 in Germany, between 1040 and 1050 in Grenoble, and 1080 in Rouen.huge iron church bells: Lopez, 145. On casting, Gimpel, 6668.on parity with: Pacey, 44, White, Medieval Technology, Medieval Technology, 82. 82."where there is no Nile or Indus": Harris, 167, 169.Benedetto Zaccaria: Lopez, 139141; see also Norwich, History of Venice, History of Venice, 202. For the history of the control of Gibraltar, see Casson, 65; Cary and Warmington, 4547, 60. 202. For the history of the control of Gibraltar, see Casson, 65; Cary and Warmington, 4547, 60.Genoese republic: To give an idea of Genoa's power, by 1293 its sea trade alone was three times greater than all the revenue of the French kingdom. Lopez, 94.Dante Alighieri's special embassy: Norwich, History of Venice History of Venice, 204.naval help: McNeill, Rise of the West, Rise of the West, 514, 515. 514, 515.sack Constantinople: Villehardouin, in Joinville and Villehardouin, Chronicles of the Crusades; Chronicles of the Crusades; Norwich, Norwich, History of Venice History of Venice, 122143.three-eighths of Constantinople: Norwich, History of Venice History of Venice, 141.1280 to 1330: McNeill, Pursuit of Power, Pursuit of Power, 70. 70.until after 1480: Ibid., 70.
Chapter Eight: The Voyages of Discovery and the Launch of the Oceanic Era "the two greatest": Smith, Wealth of Nations, Wealth of Nations, 281. 281.African slaves: Boorstin, 167168. After 1445, some 25 caravels per year voyaged to West Africa to carry out commercial trade in slaves, gold, and ivory.circumnavigation and coastal exploration of Africa: Cason, 118, 120-123; Cary and Warmington, 62, 128, 131, 229-230."Considered as a whole": Fernandez-Armesto, 406. There were various exceptions to the Atlantic wind system. For instance, inside the Gulf of Guinea was a wind system that blew straight into Africa's large bulge, creating, in effect, a treacherous lee shore and helping explain why West African civilizations in that region were so disadvantaged at seafaring. In the far north, the Vikings, in their explorations of Iceland, Greenland, and North America, were able to take advantage of a clockwise current system that moved west from Scandinavia.European diseases: Europeans, having been exposed to many diseases through Old World trade, had an overwhelming immunity advantage in the contest with the "virgin" Amerindians."Get gold": Timothy Green, The World of Gold: The Inside Story of Who Mines, Who Markets, Who Buys Gold The World of Gold: The Inside Story of Who Mines, Who Markets, Who Buys Gold (London: Rosendale Press, 1993), 11, quoted in Bernstein, 121. (London: Rosendale Press, 1993), 11, quoted in Bernstein, 121.Water-powered mills: Pacey, 70.Treaty of Tordesillas: The new line gave Portugal claim to Brazil when it was discovered in 1500 by Pedro Cabral in his southwesterly arc through the Atlantic to catch the winds for Portugal's second Indian Ocean expedition.out of sight of land: McNeill, Rise of the West, Rise of the West, 570. 570."Christians and spices": Quoted in Lewis, Muslim Discovery of Europe, Muslim Discovery of Europe, 33. 33.cost of his voyage sixtyfold: Clough, 188.use of crossbows: McNeill, Pursuit of Power, Pursuit of Power, 100. 100.sea artillery: Braudel, Structures of Everyday Life, Structures of Everyday Life, 388389. 388389."There is no doubt": Kennedy, Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, 26. 26.price of pepper: Boorstin, 178.reopen Pharaoh Neko's old "Suez": Lewis, What Went Wrong? What Went Wrong? 13. 13.Venice's desperate offer: Cameron, 121.boiled hot drinks: Braudel, Structures of Everyday Life, Structures of Everyday Life, 227. Chocolate and coffee were both considered medicinal when introduced to Europe, most probably because they were served hot. Boiled water was commonly sold on the streets in China. 227. Chocolate and coffee were both considered medicinal when introduced to Europe, most probably because they were served hot. Boiled water was commonly sold on the streets in China.yellow and putrid: Cited in Boorstin, 265.Spanish Main: The Spanish Main was an area in the Caribbean enclosed by ports from Cartagena, Colombia, to Nombre de Dios, Panama, to Trujillo, Honduras, to Veracruz, Mexico.interdicting the pay: Trevelyan, 238."difference of social character": Ibid., 233.more than 10 tons: Bernstein, Power of Gold Power of Gold, 138.Spanish Armada: Howarth, 2433; Davis, 100 Decisive Battles, 100 Decisive Battles, 199204. 199204.shift of European power: Braudel, Afterthoughts, Afterthoughts, 8486, 98. Historian Fernand Braudel reckons that the center of gravity of the European economy was anchored in Italy for several centuries until 1500, when it moved to Antwerp, then from 1550 to 1600 back to the Mediterranean in favor of Genoa (due to the wars in the north), and then definitively back north between 1590 and 1610 to Amsterdam, where it remained until the late eighteenth century, when it moved to London. In 1914 the center of the world economy crossed the Atlantic to New York. 8486, 98. Historian Fernand Braudel reckons that the center of gravity of the European economy was anchored in Italy for several centuries until 1500, when it moved to Antwerp, then from 1550 to 1600 back to the Mediterranean in favor of Genoa (due to the wars in the north), and then definitively back north between 1590 and 1610 to Amsterdam, where it remained until the late eighteenth century, when it moved to London. In 1914 the center of the world economy crossed the Atlantic to New York.contracted dysentery and died: Bernstein, Power of Gold, Power of Gold, 138. 138.continued to be a leader: Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 2833; Kolbert, 123127. 2833; Kolbert, 123127.half of the shipping: Cameron, 121122.closed Lisbon harbor: Spain had taken control of Portugal in 1580.sea passages to the Spice Islands: Braudel, History of Civilizations, History of Civilizations, 263264. 263264.superiority at sea: French fleets, whose sailors were weakened by food and water shortages and disease caused by the insanitary conditions aboard ship at Brest, were slow to press their advantage.Britain's navy reigned supreme: Lambert, 104.had kept their powder dry: Davis, 100 Decisive Battles, 100 Decisive Battles, 241; Lambert, 122; Keay, 381393. 241; Lambert, 122; Keay, 381393.winning command of the sea: Kennedy, Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, 124. 124.low water supplies: Davis, 100 Decisive Battles, 100 Decisive Battles, 275. 275.Nelson himself, shot: Howarth, 75.
Chapter Nine: Steam Power, Industry, and the Age of the British Empire King George III: George III ascended to the throne when his grandfather died suddenly of a burst blood vessel while in the royal water closet.Little Ice Age: Ponting, 99101. The Thames froze over 20 times between 1564 and 1814. France's Rhone froze three times in the thirteen years between 1590 and 1603, and even the Guadalquiver at Seville in Spain froze in the winter of 16021603. By contrast, in a dramatic illustration of the large effects small temperature changes can have, the warm climatic period that ended about 1200 had fostered vineyards in England to the Severn in the north, arable farmland over large parts of southern Scotland's uplands, and even habitable climates on the southern coast of Greenland.converting coal into coke: Coke, an almost pure form of carbon, was produced from coal in a method similar to the way wood was converted into charcoal-it was heated in a closed vessel to burn off impurities, leaving behind a residue that was coke.new shipbuilding was being outsourced: Pacey, 114."many domestic hearths cold": Trevelyan, 430.price of his coal: Bernstein, Wedding of the Waters, Wedding of the Waters, 4045. 4045.Canal du Midi: Ibid., 3840. The driving force behind the Canal du Midi was a self-made tax collector of King Louis XIV's, Baron Pierre-Paul de Riquet de Bonrepos, who was close to the king's influential finance minister, Colbert, and spent his entire fortune in building it.canal frenzy added 3,000 miles: Cameron, 174.growing financial markets: The Glorious Revolution (16881689) played a critical role in creating the political and economic atmosphere favorable to private capital accumulation and investment, which was so essential to stirring the entrepreneurship and innovations of the Industrial Revolution.Thomas Savery: Bronowski and Mazlish, 314; Cameron, 177178; White, Medieval Technology, Medieval Technology, 8993. 8993.less than a hundred: Pacey, 113.pumping water from a coal mine: Lira.the watt: One watt is equal to 1/746 horsepower. Ironically, Watt invented the term horsepower horsepower by imagining the amount of coal a horse could lift from a mine in a defined period of time. He calculated that one horse could lift 33,000 pounds one foot in one minute. by imagining the amount of coal a horse could lift from a mine in a defined period of time. He calculated that one horse could lift 33,000 pounds one foot in one minute."I sell here, Sir": Matthew Boulton, quoted in English Merchants, English Merchants, by H. R. Fox Bourne (London: R. Bentley, 1866), cited in Heilbroner, by H. R. Fox Bourne (London: R. Bentley, 1866), cited in Heilbroner, Making of Economic Society, Making of Economic Society, 119. 119."The people in London": Matthew Boulton, "Document 14, 21 June 1781: Matthew Boulton to James Watt," in Tann, 5455.Darby silk-stocking factory: Pacey, 103, 107. The original silk-stocking factory was opened in 1702, but failed. Subsequent owners made a success of it after secretly copying the designs of an Italian silk-stocking plant.spinning mule: The mule got its name by merging aspects of Arkwright's water frame with James Hargreaves's non-water-powered spinning jenny (1764). Crompton never earned the fruits of his invention; although mules were in use everywhere, he himself remained indigent.had 52 two decades later: Cameron, 181.produce goods less expensively: McNeill, World History, World History, 368. 368.accelerated twelvefold: Heilbroner, Making of Economic Society, Making of Economic Society, 81. 81.1 percent to 4 percent per year: Simmons, 201.generated about 25 horsepower: Tann, 67. The British government, trying to preserve the country's industrial leadership, limited the sale of larger Watt engines abroad.nearly 500: Ibid., 67.fountains and gardens at Versailles: The three-level waterworks was known as the Marly machine. Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 100106. See also Braudel, 100106. See also Braudel, Structures of Everyday Life, Structures of Everyday Life, 227231. 227231.Paris's 20,000 omnipresent water carriers: Braudel, Structures of Everyday Life, Structures of Everyday Life, 230. 230.nearly 1.4 million tons: Heilbroner, Making of Economic Society, Making of Economic Society, 81. 81.Mastodon Mill: Ponting, 276.1.7 percent per century: century: Per capita economic growth figures are derived from McNeill, Per capita economic growth figures are derived from McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 67. 67.freshwater use grew: Ibid., 120121.400 miles per day: McNeill, Rise of the West, Rise of the West, 766767. 766767.communications cable: Gordon, 212.age of the ocean steamer: Cameron, 208.traumatic, long-term challenges: Of the pattern of asserting of Western hegemony in the age of steam and iron, historian Fernand Braudel observes, "It is only a step from market to colony. The exploited have only to cheat, or to protest, and conquest immediately follows.... When civilizations clash the consequences are dramatic." Braudel, Structures of Everyday Life, Structures of Everyday Life, 102. 102.invention of the torpedo: Williams, 136.Torpedo ranges multiplied: McNeill, Pursuit of Power, Pursuit of Power, 284. 284.cut Germany's five transatlantic cables: Gordon, 212213.one-fourth of world commerce: Cameron, 224.travel time to India: Karsh and Karsh, 43.ruler, Muhammad Ali: Ibid., 2729.De Lesseps finally got his chance: Ibid., 4244.no technical background: McCullough, 49.funding from the Rothschild banking family: Ferguson, 231.Fashoda Incident: Collins, 5759.1,300 liters of claret, 50 bottles of Pernod: Barnes, n.p.Nasser himself likened it to a modern pyramid: "In antiquity we built pyramids for the dead," Nasser said in 1964. "Now we build pyramids for the living." Gamal Abdel Nasser, speech, May 14, 1964, quoted in Waterbury, 98."Well, as you have the money": Fineman, 4647, 48.prearranged code word: "An Affair to Remember," Economist, Economist, July 29, 2006, 23; Fineman, 40. Dulles should not have been so shocked by the canal nationalization because he had been warned of that potential consequence by the French ambassador. July 29, 2006, 23; Fineman, 40. Dulles should not have been so shocked by the canal nationalization because he had been warned of that potential consequence by the French ambassador."have his thumb on our windpipe": Anthony Eden, quoted in Fineman, 62.colluding to seize back the canal: Some 70 percent of the traffic in the canal was British; France was perturbed because it was at war in Algeria to put down a rebellion that Nasser was supporting."Anthony, have you gone out": Dwight D. Eisenhower, quoted in Urquhart, 33. The Americans' sense of betrayal was, in part, based on poor communication-from both sides. The Americans were not totally explicit about their unwillingness to support any military action in the Suez Affair, while the allies, knowing the Americans' predilections, were not eager to ask for permission before acting, and miscalculated the Americans' readiness to back them up once they had acted.hydroelectric power station: The first hydroelectric plant was in Appleton, Wisconsin, on the Fox River in 1882.pay up to eight times: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 175. 175.
Chapter Ten: The Sanitary Revolution.
infant mortality that claimed some 15 of every 100 children: Pacey, 187."What a pity": Times Times (London), June, 18, 1858, cited in Halliday, ix. (London), June, 18, 1858, cited in Halliday, ix.clean freshwater daily: Peter H. Gleick, Elizabeth L. Chalecki, and Arlene K. Wong, "Measuring Water Well-Being: Water Indicators and Indices" in Gleick, World's Water, 20022003, World's Water, 20022003, 101. 101.early spring rainwater: Braudel, Structures of Everyday Life, Structures of Everyday Life, 230. 230.artesian wells: One famous artesian well gave a much-needed boost to Paris's water supply in 1841 when a large water deposit was struck at a depth of about 1,800 feet after eight laborious years of boring. The well, to public fascination, jetted 100 feet above the ground and was soon enclosed in a tall tower. Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 108. 108.distilled spirits: Braudel, Structures of Everyday Life, Structures of Everyday Life, 241242, 248. 241242, 248.fleet of water boats ferried freshwater: Ibid., 228. The boatmen, much like ubiquitous water carriers throughout European cities, even formed their own trade guild.three times each week when dyers dumped: Ibid., 229."Whole quarters were sometimes without water": Mumford, 463.254255. 30 gallons of wholesome springwater: Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 111. 111.private water carriers: The water supply expanded significantly in the thirteenth century, especially after a wealthy individual gave a grant to the city in 1237 of all the springs on his estate issuing from the Tyburn, a tributary of the Thames, near today's Marble Arch.three times per week: Chelsea Waterworks used water piped from Hertfordshire into Islington in north-central London through the 36-mile artificial New River to deliver its pledge. At the time of the Great Stink, the New River still supplied the largest volume of London's water. Halliday, 21."charged with the contents": John Wright, "The Dolphin or Grand Junction Nuisance," published March 15, 1827, quoted in Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 112113. 112113."Going down to my cellar": Pepys, "Entry: Saturday 20 October 1660."guano: Halliday, 41."a certain flush with every pull": Ibid., 42.created a central board of health: McNeill, Plagues and Peoples, Plagues and Peoples, 240. 240.Death came from collapse: Biddle, 41.first pandemic spread in Asia: McNeill, Plagues and Peoples, Plagues and Peoples, 232233. 232233.murdering victims in order to dissect: Karlen, 133139.three river embankments were constructed: The narrowing of the river caused by the embankments speeded the Thames's flow, with the salutary benefit of helping whisk away the waste that had eluded the intercepting sewers.Typhoid fever: Milk pasteurization and vaccines against tetanus, diphtheria, and tuberculosis bacilli were among the other major antibacterial successes that inspired the medical conquest of many viruses.human longevity to leap: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 199200. U.S. life expectancies for white males rose from 56 to 75 between 1920 and 1990, up from a mere 30 to 40 years before the sanitary awakening, when infant mortality was so high. Worldwide average life spans leaped from 36 years in 1900 to over 65 in 1995. 199200. U.S. life expectancies for white males rose from 56 to 75 between 1920 and 1990, up from a mere 30 to 40 years before the sanitary awakening, when infant mortality was so high. Worldwide average life spans leaped from 36 years in 1900 to over 65 in 1995.Infant mortality plunged, falling to half of 1 percent: Cameron, 328; Economist staff, Pocket World in Figures, 2009 Edition, Pocket World in Figures, 2009 Edition, 83. Japan achieved the most spectacular improvement of any advanced nation, with a more than thirtyfold drop in infant mortality to the world's lowest absolute levels. 83. Japan achieved the most spectacular improvement of any advanced nation, with a more than thirtyfold drop in infant mortality to the world's lowest absolute levels.20-mile-long sewage storage tunnel: "My Sewer Runneth Over," Economist, Economist, March 22, 2007. March 22, 2007.municipality-run water supply: Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 127. In heavily wood-constructed U.S. cities, firefighting was another important motivating factor in the early evolution of public water systems. New York City launched a board of health in 1866 directly modeled on the British prototype and driven by the same cholera fears. 127. In heavily wood-constructed U.S. cities, firefighting was another important motivating factor in the early evolution of public water systems. New York City launched a board of health in 1866 directly modeled on the British prototype and driven by the same cholera fears.waterborne disease fell sharply in America: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 196. 196.cleaner than the water in the Thames: Halliday, 107. Leftover liquids from the sludge were aerated to promote microbacterial activity that eliminated further impurities.Moscow River received untreated nearly all the sewage: Ponting, 356.
Chapter Eleven: Water Frontiers and the Emergence of the United States two froze to death marching: Morison, 243244.take control of the strategic Hudson waterway: They were to rendezvous at Albany. Both sides considered that the critical strategic spot for controlling the unbridged Hudson was West Point, south of Albany, because the river was wide enough for sailing ships to navigate up to that point, but not beyond, without the help of rowed tugs. To defend West Point, the colonials built a ring of forts buttressed by a chain they laid nearby across the Hudson.personal entourage some three miles long: Wood, 33.King George III's bid to reassert monarchal authority: Trevelyan, 389390.Only seven rivers carried a greater volume of water: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 183. 183.encompassed over two-fifths of the continental United States: Barry, 21.unusual feature of the lower Mississippi: Ibid., 3839.17 million acres of surrounding wetlands: Clarke and King, 70.inveigled, to obtain U.S. domain over the lands: At the crucial moment, the Americans infuriated their French ally by contravening the spirit, though not the letter, of the Franco-American alliance by secretly negotiating separately with England to preempt the possibility that France and Spain might try to secure Gibraltar in exchange for England's right to the lands west of the Appalachians.in 1794 signed a controversial treaty: Despite losing the Revolutionary War, Great Britain did not give up on on its hope of winning the Mississippi for itself and British Canada until after the War of 1812. Its strategy was to try to hem in the United States to the east by creating native Indian buffer states west of the Appalachians.feared ulterior American and British designs: Spain had good reason to worry. Alexander Hamilton was lobbying in Washington to personally lead an invasion force to seize Louisiana and Florida from militarily vulnerable Spain by arms."The day that France takes possession of New Orleans": Thomas Jefferson to Robert Livingston, April 18, 1802, quoted in Tindall, 338."What would you give for the whole whole": Talleyrand, quoted in Morison, 366.he raised capital from private investors: Bernstein, Wedding of the Waters, Wedding of the Waters, 7071; Achenbach, 1920. 7071; Achenbach, 1920.one-third of Britain's fleet: Heilbroner and Singer, 43. See also Pacey, 114.producing more total pig and bar iron than England: Heilbroner and Singer, 6364.Britain vigorously enforced sanctions: Some U.S. states offered bounties to anyone who smuggled out the sanctioned technology.1,200 automated factories: Groner, 60.interchangeable parts: In 1801, to demonstrate the effectiveness of his innovation, Whitney famously produced 10 muskets that he disassembled, put into piles, and then reassembled before the eyes of President John Adams and Vice President Thomas Jefferson.1,200 factories with 2.25 million spindles: Morison, 483. A parallel celebrated woolen manufacturing city evolved, somewhat more slowly, on the same river in Lawrence.turbines capable of 190 horsepower: Smith, Man and Water Man and Water, 179. This was Uriah Boyden's turbine for the Appleton Company of Lowell, starting in 1844. Pioneering breakthroughs in turbine design had been made in the 1820s by French engineers Jean-Victor Poncelet and Benoit Fourneyron.Francis turbine: Ibid., 179180, 185.electricity could be produced: Man's awareness of electricity dated at least to the sixth century BC to the father of Greek philosophy, Thales of Miletus, who observed static electricity's effects after rubbing amber on light objects.generating hydroelectricity from 5,500 horsepower Francis turbines: Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 185, 187. 185, 187.consuming more electricity: Heilbroner and Singer, 262.John Fitch: Williams, 100. See also Groner, 87.western river steamboats were carrying freight: Groner, 88; Heilbroner and Singer, 97."when the United States shall be bound together": Robert Fulton, "Mr. Fulton's Communication." Fulton made a similar point in a much-earlier letter (February 5, 1797) to President George Washington, who had just received a copy of Fulton's Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation (1796). Advocating the benefits of canals over investments in land or river transport in general, and a business proposal for a canal between Philadelphia and Lake Erie in particular, Fulton wrote that such canals "would penetrate the Interior Country And bind the Whole In the bonds of Social Intercourse." Fulton, "Letter from Robert Fulton to President George Washington." (1796). Advocating the benefits of canals over investments in land or river transport in general, and a business proposal for a canal between Philadelphia and Lake Erie in particular, Fulton wrote that such canals "would penetrate the Interior Country And bind the Whole In the bonds of Social Intercourse." Fulton, "Letter from Robert Fulton to President George Washington.""It is little short of madness": Thomas Jefferson, quoted in "Claims of Joshua Forman," in Hosack, Memoir of De Witt Clinton, Memoir of De Witt Clinton, Appendix Note U. Reminded years later of his comment in a letter from DeWitt Clinton, Jefferson mused in his late 1822 reply upon what marvelous qualities they were that enabled the state to execute such a great enterprise that "anticipated, by a full century, the ordinary progress of improvement." Appendix Note U. Reminded years later of his comment in a letter from DeWitt Clinton, Jefferson mused in his late 1822 reply upon what marvelous qualities they were that enabled the state to execute such a great enterprise that "anticipated, by a full century, the ordinary progress of improvement."New York state limestone that acted like waterproof Roman cement: Chittenango cement, as it was called, was found near Syracuse.foreigners held over half: Bernstein, Wedding of the Waters, Wedding of the Waters, 235. 235.through seven miles of solid rock face: Ibid., 280284. Lockport, as the nearby town was called, later used the canal's surplus water as an important electricity producer. The normal locks were eight feet, four inches.symbolic wedding of the waters: Ibid., 319. This ritual wedding of the waters was reminiscent of how Venetians tossed rings into their city's canal to symbolize its marriage to the sea.slashed freight transportation costs by 90 percent: Heilbroner and Singer, 94.cheapest route to Pittsburgh: Morison, 478.more than 3,000 miles of canals: Cameron, 230.economy expanded on average about 2.8 percent per year: Bernstein, Wedding of the Waters, Wedding of the Waters, 347. 347.100 gallons of water per day: Koeppel, 287. Other main sources used in this section are Galusha and Grann.specially written "Croton Ode": Koeppel, 280283."Nothing is talked of or thought of": "Croton Water: October 12, 1842," in Hone, 130131.surge in per capita consumption: Galusha, 35. Daily consumption rose from 12 million gallons per day to 40 million in the eight years from 1842 to 1850.authorities used high-handed land appropriations: In the same period, Los Angeles was constructing its aqueduct (completed 1913) from ruthlessly acquired water rights to the Owens River 250 miles away.first deep, high-pressure subterranean conduit: Galusha, 113; Grann, 93."equitable apportionment without quibbling": Oliver Wendell Holmes, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 16, State of New Jersey v. State of New York and City of New York, State of New Jersey v. State of New York and City of New York, May 4, 1931, cited in Galusha, 113. May 4, 1931, cited in Galusha, 113.1.3 billion gallons to 9 million people: Galusha, 265. About 50 percent of the water came from the Delaware Aqueduct, 40 percent from the Catskills, and 10 percent from the nineteenth-century Croton system. In addition to the central water tunnels, the system included 6,200 miles of water mains that helped distribute water to end users.Its sewerage counterpart: Chicago's water system also featured one of engineering history's innovative and culturally indicative early twentieth-century marvels. In contrast to New York, Chicago drew its freshwater from the huge natural reservoir at its doorstep, Lake Michigan. In the nineteenth century, the lake also was the sewage dump of the Chicago River. Disease plagued the city until 1867, when it built a drinking-water intake tunnel two miles out into the lake. But population growth overtook it. In 1885 a heavy storm flushed the increased volume of sewage discharge out beyond the intake valves. The epidemics returned. Chicago responded with an innovative, ambitious civil-engineering project-the reversal of the flow of the Chicago River. By 1900 the 28-mile-long Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal diverted the river southward to dilute and drain into the Mississippi watershed instead of into Lake Michigan. Not everyone hailed the largest earthmoving civil-engineering project until the Panama Canal, however. The state of Missouri, complaining about increased pollution on the Mississippi at St. Louis, pursued litigation. The earthmoving technology used on the Chicago River project was soon applied in building the monumental Panama Canal.Sutter's new waterwheel-powered sawmill: Bernstein, Power of Gold, Power of Gold, 223225. 223225.San Francisco swelled into a booming city: Morison, 569.hurdy-gurdy wheels: Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 182. Bernstein, 182. Bernstein, The Power of Gold The Power of Gold, 14.drew 300,000 to California by 1860: Worster, 65.speedier, full-rigged clippers: Morison, 583.the Panama railway: McCullough, 36.set himself up as Nicaragua's president: Morison, 580581.
Chapter Twelve: The Canal to America's Century.
John Paul Jones's heroic sea victories: Love, 1:2224.U.S. Navy earned the respect: Morison, 350351.one-fifth of America's annual government revenue: Morison, 363364.give up its long-term designs on the Mississippi: Napoleon's abdication in April 1814 allowed England to concentrate on invading the United States, which it planned to do in three places in succession-Niagara, Lake Champlain, and New Orleans-while raiding the Chesapeake. While the Chesapeake raid led to the torching of the White House and the bombardment of Baltimore that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner," the other battles were determinative. The dramatic naval victories were Captain Oliver Hazard Perry's victories on Lake Erie and the U.S. victory at Niagara Falls, and, even more dramatically, Captain Thomas Macdonough's victory at Plattsburg on Lake Champlain, which halted the British plan to take the Hudson and sever the United States, as it had tried to do in the War of Independence. The navy assisted in the defense of New Orleans, where Andrew Jackson made his fame.America's special sphere of influence: In the 1830s U.S. military ships also began around-the-world explorative expeditions.rapid growth in demand for U.S. manufactured goods: Heilbroner and Singer, 180181, note that U.S. exports tripled from 1870 to 1900 and that manufacturing's share doubled from 15 percent to 32 percent. Kennedy, Rise and Fall, Rise and Fall, 245, writes that from 1860 to 1914 U.S. exports grew sevenfold while imports rose only fivefold. 245, writes that from 1860 to 1914 U.S. exports grew sevenfold while imports rose only fivefold."The seaboard of a country is one of its frontiers": Mahan, 35."the Caribbean would be changed from a terminus": Ibid., 33.excite America's "aggressive impulse": Ibid., 26.wrote a glowing review of it: McCullough, 252."There is a homely adage": Theodore Roosevelt, quoted in Morison, 823."Remember the Maine!": Love, 1:388389; Morison, 800801.Naval investment that totaled 6.9 percent: Kennedy, Rise and Fall, Rise and Fall, 247. In absolute dollars, naval spending rose almost sevenfold, from $22 million in 1890 to $139 million in 1914. 247. In absolute dollars, naval spending rose almost sevenfold, from $22 million in 1890 to $139 million in 1914.Several locations were considered: De Witt Clinton, impresario of the Erie Canal, gave his blessing to a canal at Nicaragua; celebrated British engineer Thomas Telford, who had designed Scotland's pioneering, lock-based Caledonian Canal, also studied a water passage near Darien in southern Panama.excited the whole French nation: De Lesseps got off to a dazzling start. When the major French and international financial institutions eschewed his company's initial public offering, he broke new ground in French capitalism by launching the venture with funds raised from the savings of 80,000 small investors, most purchasing one to five shares each.20,000 workers and managers died: McCullough, 235.de Lesseps was convicted of fraud: De Lesseps was sentenced to five years, but due to age was excused from prison. His son, Charles, who had overseen the day-to-day operation, was convicted, too, and served jail time.U.S. interoceanic canal commission: McCullough, 264265.Panama was indeed the superior technical route: Ibid., 326327.backed by powerful Wall Street bankers: The backroom Panama lobby had been influential enough to get McKinley to appoint a second interoceanic commission with several new members after the first had ruled in favor of Nicaragua, but not enough to get it to change its recommendation.nation's own one centavo stamp: McCullough, 323324.Roosevelt tacitly signaled his support: Ibid., 338, 340, 382; Morison, 824825.the uprising had not yet occurred: Morison, 825; McCullough, 364367."Colombia was hit by the big stick": Morison, 826."by far the most important action I took": Roosevelt, Autobiography, Autobiography, 512. 512."I took the Isthmus": Roosevelt, "Charter Day Address," Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia, Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia, 407. 407."Tell them that I am going to make the dirt fly!": Roosevelt, quoted in Nation, Nation, November 23, 1905, cited in McCullough, 408. See also Morison, 826. November 23, 1905, cited in McCullough, 408. See also Morison, 826.33,000 to 40,000 annually: Panama Canal Authority-Canal History, "Panama Canal History-workforce," www.pancanal.com/eng/history/index.html.26 million gallons of fresh lake water: Cornelia Dean, "To Save Its Canal, Panama Fights for Its Forests," New York Times, New York Times, May 24, 2005. May 24, 2005.By 1970, over 15,000 ships: McCullough, 611612. In 1955 Suez had 14,555 ships. Morison, 1,093.shipping revolution: The revolution had transformed the world's ports. No longer were cargo ships unloaded at docks. Instead, intermodal containers were lifted directly onto waiting trains and trucks to be transported directly to their final destinations."The fifty miles between the oceans": McCullough, 613614.American naval history's three eras: Love, 1:xiii.United States entered World War I: The March 1917 sinking of three U.S. merchantmen, with heavy loss of life, as well as the interception of the Zimmermann telegram suggesting a German-Mexican alliance that could threaten U.S. security, were proximate causes.Midway was the first sea battle: Howarth, 152163. No U.S. aircraft carriers had been destroyed at Pearl. The intelligence breakthrough that tipped the Americans off to Japan's secret intention to attack the Midway atolls occurred when U.S. radio signalers purposely sent out a bogus, uncoded message that the water distillation plant on American-controlled Midway had broken down, and then later intercepted Japanese radio operators relaying the message, in Japanese code, that Midway was without water.combined power of the world's next nine leading military nations: Kennedy, "Eagle Has Landed," I, III; Kennedy, "Has the U.S. Lost Its Way?" Some estimates have the United States spending as much on its armed forces as the world's next nine biggest military powers combined.
Chapter Thirteen: Giant Dams, Water Abundance, and the Rise of Global Society Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado increased by more than 1 million: Smith, Virgin Land, Virgin Land, 174, 184. 174, 184.depopulated by one-fourth to one-half: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 107. 107."When the arid lands": Turner, 258. Turner also wrote, "No longer is it a question of how to avoid or cross the Great Plains and the arid desert. It is a question of how to conquer those rejected lands...It is a problem of how to bring precious rills of water to the alkali and sage brush." Ibid., 294.expanded their irrigated cropland fifteenfold: Worster, 77.unleashed a flood that killed 2,200: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 107108. 107108.1.25 million small farmers to cultivate 100 million acres: Worster, 132139; Smith, Virgin Land, Virgin Land, 196198; Reisner, 196198; Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 4550. By careful management of water rights, Powell argued, small farms of only 80 acres-half the Homestead Act size of 160 acres for dry farms-could be viable. 4550. By careful management of water rights, Powell argued, small farms of only 80 acres-half the Homestead Act size of 160 acres for dry farms-could be viable."In the arid region it is water": T. Roosevelt, "State of the Union Message, December 3, 1901," http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotu1.html."The forest and water problems": Ibid.over half of irrigation project farmers were defaulting: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 116. 116.1920s, the U.S. agricultural sector: Two of the main causes of the agricultural depression were a decline in foreign export demand from war-recovering Europe and a fall in commodity prices due to increased productivity from farm mechanization; as a result, four out of 10 of the 7 million U.S. farmers were tenants, not freeholders, in 1929.might well have vanished at that point: Instead, in 1923 the Reclamation Service was purged, its leader replaced, and renamed the Bureau of Reclamation.few dams had surpassed 150 feet: A Roman dam at Subiaco was about 130 feet, and was hardly surpassed for 1,500 years. In Persia, the Mongols of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries built the 190-foot Kurit Dam, which was the tallest on Earth for 500 years. Smith, History of Dams, History of Dams, 32, 235, 236; Billington et al., 50. 32, 235, 236; Billington et al., 50.Hoover Dam: Hoover is a concrete, arched-gravity dam. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, 3036.ingrained skepticism of the water bureaucracy establishment: Billington et al., 9091. The multipurpose approach was especially controversial inside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, whose main mission was navigation.government a big player in the private electricity business: In the 1930s private power plants in the West generated 3.5 million horsepower versus only 50,000 by the government in 1920. Hoover's original 1.7 million horsepower, therefore, dramatically altered the political economy of electricity in the West.14 million acre-feet per year: An acre-foot measured the volume that would cover one acre with one foot of water. It was equal to 325,851 gallons, or 1,233.5 cubic meters.its flow was schizophrenic: Billington et al., 136. The Colorado's intensity ranged from 2,500 to more than 300,000 cubic feet per second.17 times siltier than the muddy Mississippi: McNeil, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 178. 178."too thick to drink, too thin to plow": Michael Cohen, "Managing across Boundaries: The Case of the Colorado River Delta," in Gleick, The World's Water, 20022003, The World's Water, 20022003, 134. 134.name was changed from the Valley of the Dead: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 122123. 122123.Salton Sink swelled with water: The years 1905 to 1907 were some of the wettest in the Colorado basin's history. Since then, the Salton Sea, which initially acted like a reservoir, has continually shrunk from natural evaporation and is now very salty.Los Angeles stepped forward in 1924 with a proposal: Billington et al., 160161.small Los Angeles River: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 53, 60, 73. 53, 60, 73.outflanked and killed Reclamation's own farm irrigation plan: At a critical moment, Teddy Roosevelt threw his support to Los Angeles and arranged for his Forest Service to kill the Reclamation Service's claims by declaring that much of Owens Valley would henceforth be national parkland.Posing as cattlemen and as resort developers: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 6869. 6869.secretly buying up cheap land options: Ibid., 7576. The key reason Mulholland wanted to route the water through San Fernando was that the unused portion could be stored there. This allowed him to use all of Los Angeles's share of the Owens River, which was essential to maintain the city's claim under the western water law of appropriation rights, popularly known as "use it or lose it." As a direct result of the Owens River water, the San Fernando Valley was soon incorporated into Los Angeles. Among the insiders were Harrison Gray Otis and Harry Chandler of the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, railroadmen Edward Harriman and Henry Huntington, and bankers Joseph Artori of Security Trust and Savings Bank and L. C. Brand of the Title Guarantee and Trust Company. railroadmen Edward Harriman and Henry Huntington, and bankers Joseph Artori of Security Trust and Savings Bank and L. C. Brand of the Title Guarantee and Trust Company.population surpassed Mulholland's expectations: Billington et al., 161.violent reaction from irate Owens Valley farmers: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 9295. 9295.broke the last local opposition to Mulholland's bid: A chief opponent was the powerful Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler, who placed greater importance on the near-term hit to the value of his large acreage in Mexico than on the long-term growth of Los Angeles. The Owens Valley problem also expedited the creation of regional water districts with taxing powers in order to raise funds to purchase the dam's hydroelectricity to pump its water up the escarpment through the aqueduct and across the Mojave Desert. publisher Harry Chandler, who placed greater importance on the near-term hit to the value of his large acreage in Mexico than on the long-term growth of Los Angeles. The Owens Valley problem also expedited the creation of regional water districts with taxing powers in order to raise funds to purchase the dam's hydroelectricity to pump its water up the escarpment through the aqueduct and across the Mojave Desert.divided the river into an upper and lower basin: The upper-basin states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico supplied over 90 percent of the Colorado's water.7.5 million acre-feet were assigned to each basin: Billington et al., 158159; U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, 10; Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 262263. 262263.builders constructed their own steel-fabricating plant: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 128129; U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamaton, Lower Colorado Region, 1523. 128129; U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamaton, Lower Colorado Region, 1523.the strike was broken, with the federal government's tacit approval: Billington et al., 174175. The Bureau of Reclamation also declared the construction site to be federal land to circumvent Nevada law prohibiting the underground use of internal combustion engines on health safety grounds."I came, I saw, and I was conquered": Franklin D. Roosevelt, quoted in Billington et al., 179.five largest structures on Earth, all dams: Reisner, "Age of Dams and Its Legacy."hydroelectricity for the entire population living west: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 155. 155.the Grand Coulee: Billington et al., 206.Roosevelt started the project on his own: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 156157. 156157.36 huge dams would be built on the Columbia: Ibid., 165.Grand Coulee Dam: Worster, 271.providing 40 percent of America's total hydroelectricity: Billington et al., 191.hydroelectricity sales heavily subsidized the building of the dam: Worster, 271. Ninety percent of the costs were covered with hydroelectricity sales; in the absence of a strong agribusiness lobby, the government made a concerted effort to limit existing users to the same water subsidies that were to be provided only to small 160-acre farms under the 1902 Reclamation legislation.92 percent of Grand Coulee's and Bonneville's electricity output: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 162, 164. By the middle of the war, half of total U.S. aluminum production-which requires electrical power-was located in the Pacific Northwest. The United States produced some 60,000 warplanes in four years of war. 162, 164. By the middle of the war, half of total U.S. aluminum production-which requires electrical power-was located in the Pacific Northwest. The United States produced some 60,000 warplanes in four years of war.23,500 well pipes pumped up prodigious amounts: Ibid., 151, 335."The Central Valley Project": Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 336337. Among the big landowners receiving subsidized waters were food giant DiGiorgio Corporation, the Southern Pacific Railroad, and Standard Oil. 336337. Among the big landowners receiving subsidized waters were food giant DiGiorgio Corporation, the Southern Pacific Railroad, and Standard Oil.most intensively water-engineered place on the planet: Reisner, "Age of Dams and Its Legacy."Tennessee River basin: Morison, 960964. The river, 652 miles long, rises in the Appalachians of North Carolina and Virginia and flows west, where it empties in the Ohio River near Paducah, Kentucky.staircase of 42 dams and reservoirs: Specter, 68; Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 167. 167.results transformed the Tennessee Valley: Morison, 963. Electricity prices fell from 2.4 cents to 1 cent per kilowatt-hour.75,000 dams had been built: Specter, 68.6,600 large ones over 50 feet: Peet, 9; Sandra Postel, "Hydro Dynamics," 62.343344. Bureau of Reclamation cataloged: Worster, 277.17 western states had 45.4 million acres under irrigation: Ibid., 276277.American water use for all purposes multiplied tenfold: Ibid., 312. Water use rose from 40 billion gallons per day to 393 billion between 1900 and 1975. U.S. Census figures show that population rose from 76 to 216 million in the same period.40 percent of American cattle: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 154; McGuire, "Water-Level Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, 19801999" Pearce 59. 154; McGuire, "Water-Level Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, 19801999" Pearce 59.Ogallala only half an inch per year: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 438. 438.gigantic cloud of stinging, shearing dust: Ibid., 452. See also Evans, American Century, American Century, 232233. 232233.60 major, sky-blackening dust storms each year: Evans, American Century, American Century, 232. There were 40 major dust storms in 1935, 68 in 1936, 72 in 1937, and 61 in 1938. 232. There were 40 major dust storms in 1935, 68 in 1936, 72 in 1937, and 61 in 1938.3.5 million "Dust Bowl refugees": Ibid., 234.centrifugal pump could lift 800 gallons: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 436. 436.could raise water even faster: Glennon, Water Follies, Water Follies, 26. The new techniques were capable of pumping 1,200 gallons per minute. 26. The new techniques were capable of pumping 1,200 gallons per minute.Ogallala annual water use quadrupled: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 154; McGuire, "Water-Level Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, 19801999." 154; McGuire, "Water-Level Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, 19801999."growing 15 percent of that nation's wheat, corn, cotton: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 437, 448449. 437, 448449.drawing water out of the Ogallala 10 times faster: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 154. 154.Ogallala reservoir would last: Ibid. Irrigation peaked in northern Texas in the mid-1970s and began contracting across the High Plains as a whole in 1983. On Central Valley overpumping, see Felicity Barringer, "As Aquifers Fall, Calls to Regulate the Use of Groundwater Rise," New York Times, New York Times, May 14, 2009. May 14, 2009.U.S. groundwater usage more than doubled: Robert Glennon, "Bottling a Birthright," in McDonald and Jehl, 17. Over that thirty years, groundwater usage increased from 8 to 18.5 billion gallons per day-65 gallons per person.19 large dams and reservoirs held four times: The last dam on the river was the hydroelectric giant Glen Canyon, completed in the mid-1960s.Every drop was used and reused 17 times: Cohen, 134.starting to take up to an additional 900,000 acre-feet: Reisner, Cadillac Desert, Cadillac Desert, 260261. 260261.salinity at the river's halfway point: Worster, 321322.scrambled to develop emergency plans: Gertner.75 percent of the state's entire agricultural output: Bureau of Reclamation, "Central Valley Project-General Overview," www.usbr.gov/dataweb/html/cvp.html.water-efficient industries and cities: For example, 1,000 acre-feet of water used to produce semiconductors and other high-tech applications created some 16,000 jobs, while the same water on pasture farms added only eight jobs; Las Vegas and Reno used 10 percent of Nevada's water but accounted for 95 percent of its economy-while marginal alfalfa farmers who consumed most of the rest couldn't survive without the water subsidy.United States decommissioning surpassed new construction by 2000: Clarke and King, 44. As it often did, the change in American domestic attitudes within the leading world power helped condition opinions at world institutions. In 2000 the U.N.'s World Commission on Dams reported that the negative effects of many large dam projects outweighed the benefits and urged nations to explore alternative approaches to satisfying their water resource needs.the United States had more than 50,000 toxic waste dumps: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 29. 29.released naturally by all the volcanoes in Earth's history: Ponting, 366.deadly radioactive waste: Nuclear waste afflicted both America's Columbia River and the Soviet Union's upper Ob River basin in western Siberia, which became the most radioactive place on Earth. In 1967, when a prolonged drought dried the bed of Lake Karachay, into which the Soviets had disposed nuclear waste, lake dust carrying 3,000 times the radioactivity of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was scattered by the winds over half a million people in central Asia; the area remained so radioactive twenty years later that anyone visiting the lakeshore for an hour risked death from the radiation."The pollution entering our waterways": Carson, 39, 41."The problem of water pollution by pesticides": Ibid., 39."Along with the possibility of the extinction of mankind": Ibid., 8.combusted on Cleveland's Cuyahoga River: Specter, 69. Similar fires on India's Ganges and Russia's Volga rivers in the same period attested to the universality of the environmental problem.Earth Summits of heads of state: Earth Summits were held at Rio de Janeiro (1992) and Johannesburg (2002). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issues reports every five or six years (1990, 1995, 2001, 2007). The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, inaugurated by Kofi Annan, was published in 2005."Every drop of water that runs to the sea without yielding": Herbert Hoover, quoted in Glennon, Water Follies, Water Follies, 13; Joseph Stalin, quoted in Peet, 11. 13; Joseph Stalin, quoted in Peet, 11."the new temple of resurgent India": Jawaharlal Nehru, quoted in Specter, 68.Soviet Union increased its water use eightfold: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 163. 163.358359. double irrigated cropland in the first quarter century: Ibid., 179, 278. Water use, meanwhile, quintupled during the same period; see also Jim Yardley, "Under China's Booming North, the Future Is Drying Up," New York Times, New York Times, September 28, 2007. September 28, 2007.India's 4,300 large dams ranked it third: Peet, 9.13 were being erected on average every day: Ibid., 910.World reservoir capacity quadrupled: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 26.World hydropower output doubled: Ibid., 5. World population doubled from 3 to 6 billion from 1960 to 2000, while economic output sextupled.irrigation nearly tripled in the half century: Hans Schreier, "Mountain Wise and Water Smart," in McDonald and Jehl, 90.all the corn grown in the United States was hybrid: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 220. 220.Hybrid dwarf wheat: Dwarf wheat started in the 1920s with Norin 10, a semi-dwarf variety developed in Japan that crossed Japanese and U.S. varieties, then was further crossbred in Mexico in the 1950s by pathbreaking plant breeder Norman Borlaug, who won a Nobel Prize in 1970 for his work.hybrid varietals increased their share: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 222. 222.60 percent of all larger river systems in the world: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 32.best hydropower and irrigation dam sites: This was not true in Africa, which had for the most part been bypassed by the Green Revolution and still had good, untapped hydropower potential."for a small but measurable change in the wobble of the earth": Gleick, "Making Every Drop Count," 42.retired as fast as new irrigated land was developed: Simmons, 258.10 percent of world farming was unsustainable: Postel, "Growing More Food with Less Water," 4647.
Chapter Fourteen: Water: The New Oil.
half the renewable global runoff: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 106.1.1 billion people: United Nations Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation, 4.lives are uprooted catastrophically: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 13; United Nations Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation, 17.occurred from 1999 to 2005: Peter H. Gleick, "Environment and Security: Water Conflict Chronology," in Gleick, World's Water, 20062007, World's Water, 20062007, 207212. Yemen, Jordan, Namibia, Sicily, and Algeria were among the multitude of places where water was rationed. Fierce, perennial litigation over water rights was normative in the United States and other countries governed by credible rules of law. The annals between 1999 and 2005 provided an illustrative sample of the increasingly commonplace violent protests and clashes within countries. Chinese farmers from Hebei and Henan provinces fired mortars and bombs at one another in a battle over limited water resources; a year later small-scale water wars and riots broke out, leading to several deaths, in Shandong province along the Yellow River when the government tried to stop thousands of farmers illegally diverting water from a reservoir earmarked to supply China's drying northern cities. In Cochabamba, Bolivia's third-largest city, one person died when 30,000 protesters clashed with police for several days in a fury over the government's privatization of the municipal water delivery system, which pushed prices up to one-quarter of many residents' wages. Karachi, Pakistan, was shaken by four bombings and riots from demonstrators chanting "Give us water" during a period of prolonged drought. Neighboring India had several incidents and deaths in different parts of the country, including riots in Gujarat when water trucks regularly failed to provide enough water. More than 20 were killed in tribal violence in northwestern Kenya following charges by Masai herdsmen that a local Kikuyu politician had diverted a river to irrigate his farm. Somalia's "War of the Well" claimed 250 dead as villagers clashed in the extensive violence that accompanied the three-year drought and dysfunctional central government. Water wells in Darfur were intentionally destroyed and contaminated as part of the campaign of genocidal ethnic cleansing. 207212. Yemen, Jordan, Namibia, Sicily, and Algeria were among the multitude of places where water was rationed. Fierce, perennial litigation over water rights was normative in the United States and other countries governed by credible rules of law. The annals between 1999 and 2005 provided an illustrative sample of the increasingly commonplace violent protests and clashes within countries. Chinese farmers from Hebei and Henan provinces fired mortars and bombs at one another in a battle over limited water resources; a year later small-scale water wars and riots broke out, leading to several deaths, in Shandong province along the Yellow River when the government tried to stop thousands of farmers illegally diverting water from a reservoir earmarked to supply China's drying northern cities. In Cochabamba, Bolivia's third-largest city, one person died when 30,000 protesters clashed with police for several days in a fury over the government's privatization of the municipal water delivery system, which pushed prices up to one-quarter of many residents' wages. Karachi, Pakistan, was shaken by four bombings and riots from demonstrators chanting "Give us water" during a period of prolonged drought. Neighboring India had several incidents and deaths in different parts of the country, including riots in Gujarat when water trucks regularly failed to provide enough water. More than 20 were killed in tribal violence in northwestern Kenya following charges by Masai herdsmen that a local Kikuyu politician had diverted a river to irrigate his farm. Somalia's "War of the Well" claimed 250 dead as villagers clashed in the extensive violence that accompanied the three-year drought and dysfunctional central government. Water wells in Darfur were intentionally destroyed and contaminated as part of the campaign of genocidal ethnic cleansing."Many of the wars": Ismail Serageldin, quoted in "Of Water and Wars.""now well beyond levels that can be sustained": Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 6.rise from half to 70 percent by 2025: Sterling, 30.372373. one-quarter of global freshwater use: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 6, 106107. Fifteen percent to 35 percent of withdrawals for irrigated crops were drawn from depleting resources.265 gallons for a single glass: Pearce, 34.ordinary cotton T-shirt: Sterling, 31.By 2025 up to 3.6 billion people: Postel, Last Oasis, Last Oasis, xvi. xvi.virtual water: J. A. Allan, professor at Kings College London and at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, won the 2008 Stockholm Water Prize for his pioneering work on the concept of virtual water in the early 1990s.evaporation-transpiration: Transpiration is the process of water vapor emission from organic matter such as plants and humans.that one-third totals enough: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 119; Postel, 119; Postel, Last Oasis Last Oasis, 28; Pearce, 28.large share runs off unused: The Amazon watershed alone accounted for 15 percent of the runoff, while only four-tenths of 1 percent of the world's population lived there.in Africa only one-fifth of all rainfall: Clarke, Water: The International Crisis Water: The International Crisis, 10.history's poorest societies often had: Grey and Sadoff, 545.90 percent of the dry-land inhabitants: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 13.governments still routinely maintain monopolistic control: In the United States, water was the one surviving great state monopoly, which had previously included electricity and telecommunications."tragedy of the commons": As used here, the term tragedy of the commons tragedy of the commons refers to the social trap caused by combined individual exploitation of a shared resource that is injurious to the greater public good. The concept has a long history, but was coined in modern times in a famous 1968 essay in refers to the social trap caused by combined individual exploitation of a shared resource that is injurious to the greater public good. The concept has a long history, but was coined in modern times in a famous 1968 essay in Science Science by biologist Garrett Hardin. by biologist Garrett Hardin.Aral Sea: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 163164. 163164.Lake Chad: Pearce, 85. Lake Chad had oscillated in size from natural forces since at least the Middle Ages. A natural peak was reached in 1962 with a drainage zone comparable in size to continental western Europe. About half to one-third of the shrinkage from the 1960s to 2004 was estimated to have come from man-made irrigation water diversions. The major irrigation dam projects were in Nigeria and Cameroon.paid little more than 10 percent: Postel, Last Oasis, Last Oasis, 166167. 166167.378379. Mexico City loses enough water every day: Sterling, 32; Gleick, "Making Every Drop Count," 43."Nothing is more useful than water": Smith, Wealth of Nations, Wealth of Nations, 174. 174."When the well is dry": Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac, 1733 Poor Richard's Almanac, 1733, cited in "Water Fact Sheet Looks at Threats, Trends, Solutions," Pacific Institute, www.pacinst.org/reports/water_fact_sheet.1,700 times markup: Lavelle and Kurlantzick.$400 billion per year industry: Peter H. Gleick and Jason Morrison, "Water Risks That Face Business and Industry," in Gleick, World's Water, 20062007, World's Water, 20062007, 158165. Water utilities were dominated by two French and one German company: Veolia Environnement, Suez S.A., and RWE Thames Water. GE had made a $3.2 billion investment in the $140 billion per year wastewater services sector. The fragmentation of the water business made reliable estimates of comprehensive industry size hard to come by. Some $85 billion per year was spent on private industrial water treatment to supply purified water to water-intensive industries, such as semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, certain chemical processing, pulp and paper, and food and petrochemicals. Drinking-water purification, desalinization, and water distribution infrastructure were other large segments. 158165. Water utilities were dominated by two French and one German company: Veolia Environnement, Suez S.A., and RWE Thames Water. GE had made a $3.2 billion investment in the $140 billion per year wastewater services sector. The fragmentation of the water business made reliable estimates of comprehensive industry size hard to come by. Some $85 billion per year was spent on private industrial water treatment to supply purified water to water-intensive industries, such as semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, certain chemical processing, pulp and paper, and food and petrochemicals. Drinking-water purification, desalinization, and water distribution infrastructure were other large segments.aquifer reservoirs accumulated by nature: A good deal of this deep fossil water was inaccessible even with modern drilling technologies.have less than 700 gallons per person: Postel, Last Oasis, Last Oasis, 2829. Less than 1,000 cubic meters (2,740 liters) daily per capita defined water scarcity, 1,000 to 2,000 per day defined water stress, and more than 2,000 per day defined water sufficiency. Clarke, 2829. Less than 1,000 cubic meters (2,740 liters) daily per capita defined water scarcity, 1,000 to 2,000 per day defined water stress, and more than 2,000 per day defined water sufficiency. Clarke, Water Water, 12, cites more than 20 percent of runoff used as a sign of water scarcity; 10 to 20 percent usage as a serious water problem, and less than 5 percent usage as water sufficiency.world resource demand increases: Diamond, Collapse, Collapse, 495. Diamond argues that by far the greatest impact comes from the 80 percent who live in the third world, including the rising Chinese and Indian populations, increasing their meager consumption of water and other resources to the prodigious levels of Western industrial societies. 495. Diamond argues that by far the greatest impact comes from the 80 percent who live in the third world, including the rising Chinese and Indian populations, increasing their meager consumption of water and other resources to the prodigious levels of Western industrial societies.
Chapter Fifteen: Thicker Than Blood: The Water-Famished Middle East outgrew their internal water resources: Allan, 6."the Middle East and North Africa": Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 33.quadrupling of Middle East wheat flour imports: Allan, 8.shallow wells and qanats: Much of the drinking water of modern Tehran was still supplied by qanats.forecast to swell another 63 percent to 600 million: Andrew Martin, "Mideast Facing Difficult Choice, Crops or Water," New York Times, New York Times, July 21, 2008. July 21, 2008.75 million inhabitants: Economist staff, Pocket World in Figures, 2009, Pocket World in Figures, 2009, 16. 16.completion of the high dam at Aswan: Some 96 percent of Egyptians lived on the crowded "ribbon of land along the Nile's banks," which comprised a mere 4 percent of the country's total area. Elhance, 6."The national security of Egypt": Boutros Boutros-Ghali, quoted in "Water Scarcity, Quality in Africa Aggravated by Augmented Population Growth, International Environmental Reporter, International Environmental Reporter, October 1989, cited in Postel, October 1989, cited in Postel, Last Oasis, Last Oasis, 73. 73."We depend upon the Nile 100 percent": Anwar el-Sadat, quoted in Collins, 213.25 million: See Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 205; Collins, 140. 205; Collins, 140.within a dozen feet of reaching the total shutoff levels: Collins, 225226."The only matter that could take Egypt to war again": Anwar el-Sadat, quoted in Gleick, World's Water, 20062007, World's Water, 20062007, 202. Senior Egyptian officials have made the same point repeatedly since then, including then Egyptian foreign minister and future U.N. secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who said in 1988: "The next war in our region will be over the waters of the Nile, not politics." 202. Senior Egyptian officials have made the same point repeatedly since then, including then Egyptian foreign minister and future U.N. secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who said in 1988: "The next war in our region will be over the waters of the Nile, not politics.""Preserving Nile waters for Egypt": Boutros-Ghali, 322.Mengistu Haile Mariam: Collins, 214215. Mengistu overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie, whose longtime dream had been a dam at Lake Tana, in 1974. By 1978 he began pressing for Ethiopia's internal development of its water resources with a dam. Mengistu aggravated his bad relations with Sadat by conjuring up historic Ethiopian fears of Egyptian-Islamic territorial ambitions in the Horn of Africa, accusing Egypt of stirring up trouble in his country's backyard by arming Somalis in the Ogaden and supporting breakaway rebels in Eritrea.the bureau concluded: Collins, 171.found an accommodating negotiating partner: At first Nasser had tried and failed to bully Sudan's leaders into acquiescence by pressing Egyptian territorial claims on Sudan's ancient Nubia.agreed to move jointly against upstream nations: Erlich, 6.Selassie had obtained public declarations of support: Collins, 170. The United States conditioned its backing for Nile waters development for the Aswan Dam upon the cooperation of all Nile states.several times costlier: Grey and Sadoff, 545571. World Bank water experts David Grey and Claudia Sadoff note that water-shock-prone countries are typically among the world's poorest, and that such countries often face more difficult hydrological patrimonies than industrialized nations did during their earlier phases of economic takeoff.Nile Waters Agreement: Egypt's Master Water Plan of 1981, which envisioned increasing Nile water yields by up to one-quarter through new projects situated upstream, also rather fancifully ignored the region's rampant political instability and any deleterious environmental side effects.abruptly terminated in 1984: The Darfur genocide in western Sudan, likewise, was supported by Sudan's northern-led Muslim government and included assaults on the water supplies of indigenous, mostly black non-Muslim residents.Egypt blocked an African Development Bank loan: Alan Cowell, "Cairo Journal: Now, a Little Steam. Later, Maybe a Water War," New York Times, New York Times, February 7, 1990. February 7, 1990.Israeli...engineers were doing feasibility studies: Darwish; Ward, 197.diversion of an additional 5 billion cubic meters: Allan, 6768, 152153. The New Valley Project was intended to transform Egypt's desolate desert northeast of Aswan into an agricultural and industrial oasis for some 7 million people relocated from Egypt's overcrowded Nile corridor."While Egypt is taking the Nile water": Meles Zenawi, quoted in Mike Thomson, "Nile Restrictions Anger Ethiopia," BBC News, BBC News, February 3, 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4232107.stm. While steadfastly denying that they blocked international financing for other countries' irrigation projects, Egyptian leaders argued that they were compelled by Egypt's lack of natural rainfall and domestic demographic trends to expand water diversion for ambitious new desert developments. In 2005, Dia El Quosy, a senior adviser to the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, told the BBC, "It's not only the production of food. It's also about the generation of employment. Some 40% of our manpower are farmers and if these people are not given opportunities and jobs they will immediately move to the cities and you can see how crowded Cairo is already." When asked in 2003 if Egypt would respond with force if Ethiopia or an independent southern Sudan region cut Nile flows north, Boutros-Ghali replied, "I don't believe that any country will dare to cut the water because...the national security of Egypt is based on water, on the sources of the Nile." "Talking Point." February 3, 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4232107.stm. While steadfastly denying that they blocked international financing for other countries' irrigation projects, Egyptian leaders argued that they were compelled by Egypt's lack of natural rainfall and domestic demographic trends to expand water diversion for ambitious new desert developments. In 2005, Dia El Quosy, a senior adviser to the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, told the BBC, "It's not only the production of food. It's also about the generation of employment. Some 40% of our manpower are farmers and if these people are not given opportunities and jobs they will immediately move to the cities and you can see how crowded Cairo is already." When asked in 2003 if Egypt would respond with force if Ethiopia or an independent southern Sudan region cut Nile flows north, Boutros-Ghali replied, "I don't believe that any country will dare to cut the water because...the national security of Egypt is based on water, on the sources of the Nile." "Talking Point."heavily subsidized prices: "Of Water and Wars" Elhance, 60. In the late 1990s, subsidies for energy, some for pumping and moving water, amounted to another $4 to $6 billion."Among the pervasive beliefs in Egyptian culture": Collins, 218.imports-providing up to two-fifths: Brown, "Grain Harvest Growth Slowing."30 miles inland: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 170171. 170171.from 32 to only 2 billion cubic meters: Lester Brown, "The Effect of Emerging Water Shortages on the World's Food," in McDonald and Jehl, 85; McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 170171. 170171.they are projected to add nearly 50 percent: Economist staff, Pocket World in Figures, 2009, Pocket World in Figures, 2009, 16, 17. 16, 17.might decline up to 25 percent: Elhance, 58.Mubarak called in the army: "Not by Bread Alone," Economist, Economist, April 12, 2008, 55. April 12, 2008, 55.Nile Basin Initiative: Sadoff and Grey, "Beyond the River." Sadoff and Grey posit four potential sources of gain from cooperation: (1) better management of ecosystems supporting the basin; (2) higher yields from the rivers; (3) reduction in costs from competition and tensions; and (4) benefits, such as increased trade, between nations arising from their amity in river cooperation.10 billion cubic meters: Interview with Nile Basin Initiative participant.withdrawing 3.2 billion cubic meters: Sher, 36. See also Allan, 7477. The total of 3.2 billion cubic meters (2.6 million acre-feet) includes Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, but excludes Syria on the basin's periphery.one-third as much freshwater as needed: Allan, 76.Eric Johnston: Ibid., 78; Postel, "Sharing the River out of Eden," 61.doom the landmark water accord: Elhance, 113. The Johnston plan operated on the principle that surface water should be allocated by reasonable proximity to irrigable land fed by natural gravity, which placed useful needs above territorial land rights to water. Although the plan was not enacted, the proportions it allocated remained the baseline for water-sharing negotiations over the next half a century.Golda Meir had put Israel's Arab neighbors on notice: Postel, "Sharing the River out of Eden," 62. On the Skirmish over the Jordan, see also Darwish."In reality the Six Day War": Sharon, 167.Arab air force lay smoldering: Goldschmidt, 326. The Suez Canal would be closed for eight years. It remained the violent front line between the two enemies, marked by occasional firing across its waters and air skirmishes above it. The Yom Kippur War (1973) began with a simultaneous surprise assault by Syria on the Golan Heights and an amphibious thrust by Egypt across the canal to establish a bridgehead that allowed its troops to temporarily recover much of the Sinai. But when General Ariel Sharon and a small tank force snuck behind Egyptian lines nine days later and managed to cut off the Egyptian expeditionary force from Egypt proper, the Suez Canal water boundary line was reestablished for another two years.another third of Israel's water: Allan, 82. The three headwater tributaries of the Jordan-the Banias, the Hasbani, and the Dan-all originated in springs fed by an underground aquifer on the slopes of Mount Hermon in the Golan. Another one-fifth of Israel's water supply was recycled, and desalinization plants had capacity for another one-third and were replacing the water in the depleting coastal aquifer. Israel wasted little time in augmenting the flow from the Golan by opening new springs in the Huleh Valley to channel more floodwaters to the Sea of Galilee.20 to 40 percent of their income for water: Pearce, 160161. On the decline in West Bank Palestinian irrigated cropland see Darwish.Gaza Aquifer: Postel, "Sharing the River out of Eden," 63. Gaza water was below the minimal drinking water standards of the World Health Organization. The international community financed, with Israeli approval, a state-of-the-art sewage treatment plant in Gaza to try to mitigate the problem.1987 intifada: Aaron T. Wolf, "'Water Wars' and Other Tales of Hydromythology," in McDonald and Jehl, 116117.put off to the final-status stage: Postel, Last Oasis, Last Oasis, xxiv, xxv. By 2000 Israel was drawing half to three-quarters more water than envisioned by the original Johnston plan that the Arabs had rejected. xxiv, xxv. By 2000 Israel was drawing half to three-quarters more water than envisioned by the original Johnston plan that the Arabs had rejected.secretly meeting for years: Elhance, 107, 113. Jordan depended heavily on the water from the Yarmuk-Jordan since its only other major water source was the nonrenewable Qa Disi aquifer on its southeastern border with Saudi Arabia, which the Saudis were rapidly drawing down toward exhaustion at the prodigious rate of up to 250 million cubic meters per year.Wazzani fed the Hasbani: Tensions were further heightened because Israel's water reserves were at their lowest historical level at that moment.international diplomatic flurry: "Israel Hardens Stance on Water," BBC News, BBC News, September 17, 2002, http://www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/22265139.stm; Luft; Stefan Deconinck, "Jordan River Basin: The Wazzani-Incident in the Summer of 2002-a Phony War?" Waternet (July 2006), http://www.waternet.be/jordan_river/wazzani.htm. September 17, 2002, http://www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/22265139.stm; Luft; Stefan Deconinck, "Jordan River Basin: The Wazzani-Incident in the Summer of 2002-a Phony War?" Waternet (July 2006), http://www.waternet.be/jordan_river/wazzani.htm.very close to a breakthrough: Working through the offices of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was trusted by the Israelis and had developed good relations with Syria's leadership, the two sides reportedly had worked out virtually all the major issues of a Golan water deal between them and were close to being ready to move the final negotiations up to the official level. But the opportunity was reportedly killed by the Bush administration, which refused to give the comfort sought by Syrian leaders that they could count on American support as Syria moved out of its orbit of relations with Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas. Israel's attack on Gaza over Hamas's resumption of missile launches at Israel in late 2008 reinflamed discord, which scuttled any chance of an early settlement.cut agricultural water consumption by nearly one-third: Allan, 9697; Elhance, 96.pay full market price: "Don't Make the Desert Bloom," Economist, Economist, June 7, 2008, 60. The actual water price farmers paid in 2008 was still only about half the market rate due to hidden subsidies, but the agreement signaled the direction of things. June 7, 2008, 60. The actual water price farmers paid in 2008 was still only about half the market rate due to hidden subsidies, but the agreement signaled the direction of things.agriculture's share: Postel, "Sharing the River out of Eden," 64.microirrigation methods: Ibid., 43, 64.quintupled their water productivity: Pearce, 300.fall sharply-by as much as two-thirds: Ibid., 254; Economist staff, "Tapping the Oceans," Economist Technology Quarterly, Economist Technology Quarterly, June 7, 2008, 27. The main improvements were in energy recapture and membrane technology. June 7, 2008, 27. The main improvements were in energy recapture and membrane technology.Israel to launch five: From the 1970s Israel had been studying elaborate schemes to pipe water from the Mediterranean or Red sea to the Dead Sea, exploiting the decline in altitude to generate the great amount of electricity needed to power desalinization.Ashqelon, opened in 2005: Ashqelon water costs were about 55 U.S. cents versus about 30 cents per cubic meter from Galilee.by 2020 Israel expects: "Don't Make the Desert Bloom," 60; Postel, "Sharing the River out of Eden," 64.10 times the per capita supply of Israel: Sher, 36.control the headwaters: Turkey's inclusion in NATO was strongly influenced by its strategic control of the strait controlling access to the Mediterranean from the Black Sea. During the Cold War, it helped deny the Soviet Union's navy easy access and influence in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, stretched Soviet supply lines in aiding distant allies like North Vietnam, and in general added to the burdens that helped lead to the Soviet Union's collapse. The strait today remains a strategic choke point of key shipping lanes, including those for oil from the large new fields and pipelines of central Asia to the West.upriver to Turkey: From the early 1970s to 2002, Turkey built some 700 dams and had plans to build 500 more. Douglas Jehl, "In Race to Tap the Euphrates, the Upper Hand Is Upstream," New York Times, New York Times, August 25, 2002. August 25, 2002.double national irrigated cropland and electricity: Elhance, 148149.Ataturk reservoir: "One-third of Paradise," Economist, Economist, February 26, 2005, 78. February 26, 2005, 78."The twenty-first century will belong": Turgut Ozal, quoted in Ward, 192.cut Syria's share of the Euphrates' water: Ibid.consume half again as much water as exists: Jehl, "In Race to Tap the Euphrates, the Upper Hand Is Upstream." The Euphrates held about 35 billion cubic meters of water.Turkey's vision: Elhance, 150151; Sher, 3537. The first pipeline, which drew water from the little-used Seyhan and Ceyhan rivers, was expected to carry 1.28 billion cubic meters per year, and the second, drawing from the Tigris, 0.9 billion cubic meters annually.409410. Euphrates slowed to a trickle: Elhance, 144.clandestine support: Allan, 73.force Saddam to withdraw: Gleick, World's Water, 20062007, World's Water, 20062007, 204. 204.Syria's constriction of the Euphrates' water: Elhance, 142143. Syria slowed flows in the spring of 1974 to show its anger with Iraqi criticism of its policy toward Israel and again in 1975 after Iraq signed an accord with Iran. Saudi Arabian and Soviet diplomacy resolved the 1975 crisis by getting Syria to release additional water downstream from the Tabqa Dam. Ironically, the greatest danger from a catastrophic dam break in the region was probably in Sadaam's own Iraq. The large Mosul dam on the Tigris near ancient Nineveh had been so poorly constructed in 1984 that by 2007 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was warning occupying American military commanders that it was in imminent danger of collapse-threatening to kill hundreds of thousands of people between Mosul and Baghdad and deliver a devastating setback to the American effort to build a stable, pluralistic state in post-Saddam Iraq. Patrick Cockburn, "Iraqi Dam Burst Would Drown 500,000," Independent, Independent, October 31, 2007, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/Middle-east/Iraq's-dam-burst-would-drown500,000398364.html. October 31, 2007, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/Middle-east/Iraq's-dam-burst-would-drown500,000398364.html.restore only 40 percent of the marshes: Alwash, 5658; "One-third of Paradise," 7778; Edward Wong, "Marshes a Vengeful Hussein Drained Stir Again," New York Times, New York Times, February 21, 2004; Marc Santora, "Marsh Arabs Cling to Memories of a Culture Nearly Crushed by Hussein," February 21, 2004; Marc Santora, "Marsh Arabs Cling to Memories of a Culture Nearly Crushed by Hussein," New York Times, New York Times, April 28, 2003. More water than Iraq had available was needed to flush out salts and other toxins to restore a larger area. April 28, 2003. More water than Iraq had available was needed to flush out salts and other toxins to restore a larger area."We do not say we share their oil": Suleyman Demirel, quoted in "The Euphrates Fracas: Damascus Woos (and) Warns Ankara," Mideast Mirror, Mideast Mirror, July 30, 1992, cited in Elhance, 144. July 30, 1992, cited in Elhance, 144.idled seven of 10 turbines: Whitaker."with more water than": Recep Tayyip Erdogen, quoted in Sally Buzbee, "Drought Threatens Iraq's Crops and Water Supply," Associated Press wire on Yahoo!News, July 10, 2008, AP20080710.control of Iraq's largest hydroelectric dam: Daniel Williams, "Kurds Seize Iraq Land Past Borders in Blow to U.S. Pullout Plan," March 5, 2009, Bloomberg, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aeLL5Yyjul18&refer=home.Palestinian and Israeli officials continued to meet: Postel, "Sharing the River out of Eden," 64."When one man drinks": Cited in Elhance, 122.costs, however, were staggering: Craig A. Smith, "Saudis Worry as They Waste Their Scarce Water," New York Times, New York Times, January 26, 2003. Allan, 85. January 26, 2003. Allan, 85.exhausted about 60 percent: Pearce, 61.slashed wheat production: Brown, "Aquifer Depletion."10-quart toilets: Smith, "Saudis Worry as They Waste Their Scarce Water." See also Pearce, 61.414415. Arabian aquifer may be scraping bottom: Patrick E. Tyler, "Libya's Vast Pipe Dream Taps into Desert's Ice Age Water," New York Times, New York Times, March 2, 2004. March 2, 2004.Yemen: Yemen, ancient home of the Sabaean kingdom and source of precious myrrh and frankincense, was in danger of becoming a failed state amok with religious jihadists, political insurgencies, and anarchic social conflicts over scarce freshwater that had left dozens dead in recent years. The groundwater tables supplying Yemen's life-giving wells were plunging by six feet a year in the countryside and by 15 feet a year in its major cities; its capital, Sanaa, was expected by the World Bank to run dry by 2010, with no solution in sight. Meanwhile, Yemen's 22 million mostly poor, restive citizens were expected to double within a generation-making the country a constant source of potential regional and international destabilization.subway-sized tunnels buried six feet: Tyler, "Libya's Vast Pipe Dream Taps into Desert's Ice Age Water" McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 155. See also Pearce, 4548. Like Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Libya was an effectively waterless land with scant rainfall and no surface rivers or lakes that withdrew seven times more freshwater from groundwater sources than its total renewable supply. 155. See also Pearce, 4548. Like Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Libya was an effectively waterless land with scant rainfall and no surface rivers or lakes that withdrew seven times more freshwater from groundwater sources than its total renewable supply.largest known fossil water deposit: Earth's biggest aquifers are the Sahara's Nubian sandstone aquifer, with 50 billion acre-feet under Libya, Egypt, Chad, and Sudan; South America's Guarani aquifer, with 40 billion acre-feet lying beneath 400,000 square miles of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay; the Ogallala, in the United States; and the North China Plain.Occidental Petroleum magnate Armand Hammer: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 155. 155.pipeline blowouts: Tyler, "Libya's Vast Pipe Dream Taps into Desert's Ice Age Water."less than half of the food needs: Pearce, 4548.
Chapter Sixteen: From Have to Have-Not: Mounting Water Distress in Asia's Rising Giants diminishing groundwater reserves for their irrigated agriculture: India, Pakistan, and China together accounted for 45 percent of global groundwater use; the other leading groundwater user was the United States, but only a small portion of its agriculture depended upon it."an era of severe water scarcity": Quoted in Somini Sengupta, "In Teeming India, Water Crisis Means Dry Pipes and Foul Sludge," New York Times, New York Times, September 29, 2006. September 29, 2006."survival of the Chinese nation": Wen Jiabao, quoted in "Drying Up," Economist, Economist, May 19, 2005, 46. May 19, 2005, 46."Hindu rate of growth": Das, 4.Narmada River valley: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 161162; Postel, 161162; Postel, Last Oasis, Last Oasis, 5556; Specter, 68. 5556; Specter, 68.the commission concluded: Pearce, 134135; Katherine Kao Cushing, "The World Commission on Dams Report: What Next?" in Gleick, World's Water, 20022003 World's Water, 20022003, 152.421422. "so that the specter of food shortages": Manmohan Singh, quoted in Somini Sengupta, "In Fertile India, Growth Outstrips Agriculture," New York Times, New York Times, June 22, 2008. On Indian wheat farmers' water use, see June 22, 2008. On Indian wheat farmers' water use, see Economist Economist, "Awash in Waste," April 11, 2009.store no more than a couple of months' protection: World Bank.small tube wells: Marcus Moench, "Groundwater: The Challenge of Monitoring and Management," in Gleick, World's Water, 20042005 World's Water, 20042005, 88; Pearce, 3637.India relies on groundwater mining: Pakistan, however, relied more on groundwater as a percentage of its total water use.being mined twice as fast: Brown, "The Effect of Emerging Water Shortages on the World's Food," in McDonald and Jehl, 82.Coca-Cola and Pepsi: Peter H. Gleick and Jason Morrison, "Water Risks That Face Business and Industry," in Gleick, World's Water, 20062007, World's Water, 20062007, 146; Saritha Rai, "Protests in India Deplore Soda Makers' Water Use," 146; Saritha Rai, "Protests in India Deplore Soda Makers' Water Use," New York Times, New York Times, May 21, 2003. May 21, 2003.Indian government report: Sengupta, "In Teeming India, Water Crisis Means Dry Pipes and Foul Sludge." New Delhi had 5,600 miles of water pipes, which lost an estimated 25 percent to 40 percent to leaks.poor are effectively subsidizing: Peet, 8; Specter, 63.newly installed meters broke down: Gleick and Morrison, 148.Ritu Praser: Sengupta, "In Teeming India, Water Crisis Means Dry Pipes and Foul Sludge."India's sanitation: Gleick and Morrison, 148.surface and ground water supply is polluted: Meena Palaniappan, Emily Lee, and Andrea Samulon, "Environmental Justice and Water," in Gleick, World's Water, 20062007, World's Water, 20062007, 128. 128.pesticide plant in Bhopal: Somini Sengupta, "Decades Later, Toxic Sludge Torments Bhopal," New York Times New York Times, September 29, 2006.Gangotri glacier: Emily Wax, "A Sacred River Endangered by Global Warming," Washington Post, Washington Post, June 17, 2007; "Melting Asia," June 17, 2007; "Melting Asia," Economist, Economist, June 7, 2008, 29. Similarly, the Kashmir valley's sole year-round water source, the Kolahoi glacier, had shrunk by half a mile in the twenty years since 1985. "How Green Was My Valley?" June 7, 2008, 29. Similarly, the Kashmir valley's sole year-round water source, the Kolahoi glacier, had shrunk by half a mile in the twenty years since 1985. "How Green Was My Valley?" Economist, Economist, October 23, 2008. On a positive note, in early 2009 India broke its domestic political logjam and agreed to move forward cooperatively on the Ganges with Nepal, the mountainous upriver state where half its waters originated but which itself had only one-twentieth of the basin's population. October 23, 2008. On a positive note, in early 2009 India broke its domestic political logjam and agreed to move forward cooperatively on the Ganges with Nepal, the mountainous upriver state where half its waters originated but which itself had only one-twentieth of the basin's population.round of informal dialogues: The diplomatically quiet Abu Dhabi Dialogue, under World Bank auspices, brought together the often-rival neighbors for three meetings between 2006 and mid-2008.one-third fall in agricultural output: Economist Economist, "Melting Asia," 29.Indus is not a giant river: McNeill, Something New Under the Sun, Something New Under the Sun, 159. 159.Indus is badly overdrawn: Erik Eckholm, "A River Diverted, the Sea Rushes In," New York Times, New York Times, April 22, 2003. April 22, 2003.scant thirty days' capacity: World Bank.Punjabi cropland: Moench, 88. Today, groundwater pumping is an indispensable source of the country's heavily irrigation-dependent agriculture; indeed, on a per person basis, no major nation in the world outside the Middle East was more addicted to its depleting groundwater for its survival.Sindhis are bitterly complaining: Eckholm, "River Diverted, the Sea Rushes In" Erik Eckholm, "A Province Is Dying of Thirst, and Cries Robbery," New York Times, New York Times, March 17, 2003. March 17, 2003.residents routinely boil: Michael Wines, "For a Sickening Encounter, Just Turn On the Tap," New York Times, New York Times, October 31, 2002. October 31, 2002.overran the pivotal Buner district: Pakistan's semiautonomous mountainous northwestern Pashtun-tribe-dominated provinces were already host to the Muslim fundamentalist extremists like Afghanistan's Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. Their breakout into Pakistan proper posed perilous potential repercussions for India and the world. Carlotta Gall and Eric Schmidt, "U.S. Questions Pakistan's Will to Stop Taliban," New York Times, New York Times, April 24, 2009. April 24, 2009.brink of war: Postel, Last Oasis, Last Oasis, 85; Elhance, 167, 174175. 85; Elhance, 167, 174175.shortfall will be equal to its total usage: John Pomfret, "A Long Wait at the Gate to Greatness," Washington Post, Washington Post, July 27, 2008. July 27, 2008.430431. peaked out in the late 1990s: Brown, "Aquifer Depletion." On famine numbers, see Mirsky, 39.meat consumption increased two and a half times: "Sin Aqua Non," Economist, Economist, April 11, 2009. April 11, 2009.projects on the Yellow River: Ma, China's Water Crisis, China's Water Crisis, ix, 39. The large-scale waterworks were common to both the Communists and their Nationalist predecessors. In 1934 the Nationalist government had dredged and almost entirely rebuilt the span of the Grand Canal between the Yangtze and the Huai rivers and installed ship locks for medium-sized steamers. Between 1958 and 1964, Mao's Communist government did even more extensive work so it could handle larger ships. ix, 39. The large-scale waterworks were common to both the Communists and their Nationalist predecessors. In 1934 the Nationalist government had dredged and almost entirely rebuilt the span of the Grand Canal between the Yangtze and the Huai rivers and installed ship locks for medium-sized steamers. Between 1958 and 1964, Mao's Communist government did even more extensive work so it could handle larger ships.water use quintupled: Jim Yardley, "Under China's Booming North, the Future Is Drying Up," New York Times, New York Times, September 28, 2007. September 28, 2007.If the human costs seemed high: "China's Growing Pains," Economist, Economist, August 21, 2004, 11. See also Jim Yardley, "At China's Dams, Problems Rise with Water," August 21, 2004, 11. See also Jim Yardley, "At China's Dams, Problems Rise with Water," New York Times, New York Times, November 9, 2007. In the quarter century after 1978, per capita living standards rose about sevenfold; some 400 million were lifted out of poverty and a huge middle class was born. The 23 million dislocations come from Premier Wen's 2007 work report to the National People's Congress; Palaniappan, Lee, and Samulon, 134, cite the critics' estimates of 40 to 60 million displacements. November 9, 2007. In the quarter century after 1978, per capita living standards rose about sevenfold; some 400 million were lifted out of poverty and a huge middle class was born. The 23 million dislocations come from Premier Wen's 2007 work report to the National People's Congress; Palaniappan, Lee, and Samulon, 134, cite the critics' estimates of 40 to 60 million displacements.staircase of dams and 46 hydroelectric power plants: Ma, 811, 39."When the Yellow River is at peace": Quoted in Gifford, 105.shadow of its intended magnificence: Ma, 10.dry area grew steadily: Ibid., 11, 12.river would be rationed: Pearce, 108, 112.have to drill three times deeper: Yardley, "Under China's Booming North, the Future Is Drying Up."reservoir was declared unfit for drinking: Marq De Villiers, "Three Rivers," in McDonald and Jehl, 47.capital will eventually have to move: Ma, 136.bottom will be hit around 2035: Yardley, "Under China's Booming North, the Future Is Drying Up" Ma, viii. The northern plain originally had 60 billion cubic meters of nonrenewable groundwater. Reliance on groundwater was increasing across China as a whole, reaching one-fifth of the nation's water supply.Half the lakes: Pearce, 109.potential new cropland was destroyed: Diamond, Collapse, Collapse, 364, 365. Erosion pauperized the soil for agriculture, clogged irrigation canals and navigable river channels, and increased the risks of major flooding. Some one-fifth of all China's land, north and south, suffered major soil erosion. 364, 365. Erosion pauperized the soil for agriculture, clogged irrigation canals and navigable river channels, and increased the risks of major flooding. Some one-fifth of all China's land, north and south, suffered major soil erosion.Genghis Khan's memorial tomb: De Villiers, 49; Ma, 31.replanting a "green wall" of trees: Diamond, Collapse Collapse, 368, 369. In the 2,000 years leading up to 1950, major dusters occurred on average every thirty-one years. From 1950 to 1990, they hit once every two years; from 1990, they struck almost every year. A big one in May 1993 killed a hundred people. The green wall project was budgeted at $6 billion.dust mixes with thick clouds of sooty, polluted air: Jim Yardley, "China's Path to Modernity, Mirrored in a Troubled River," New York Times, New York Times, November 19, 2006. November 19, 2006.desiccation of northern China: Ma, 19. The headwaters of the Yellow had dried up, and had reduced water flows, just like the lower reaches from the mid- to late 1980s.436437. "Swimming": Mao Zedong (1956), quoted in Ma, 57.hydropower megabases: China has exploited only about one-fourth of its hydropower potential."hidden dangers": Wang Xiaofeng, speaking at the September 25 forum at Wuhan, composite quotes cited in Lin Yang, "China's Three Gorges Dam under Fire," Time, Time, October 12, 2007, http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1671000,00.html; Yardley, "At China's Dams, Problems Rise with Water" Jane Macartney, "Three Gorges Dam Is a Disaster in the Making, China Admits," October 12, 2007, http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1671000,00.html; Yardley, "At China's Dams, Problems Rise with Water" Jane Macartney, "Three Gorges Dam Is a Disaster in the Making, China Admits," Times Times (London), September 27, 2007, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2537279.ece. (London), September 27, 2007, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2537279.ece.3 to 4 million people would have to be relocated: Howard W. French, "Dam Project to Displace Millions More in China," New York Times, New York Times, October 2, 2007. October 2, 2007.water in the Zipingpu reservoir: Sharon LaFraniere, "Scientists Point to Possible Link between Dam and China Quake," New York Times, New York Times, February 6, 2009. February 6, 2009.dogged private environmental whistle-blower: Joseph Kahn, "In China, a Lake's Champion Imperils Himself," New York Times, New York Times, October 14, 2007. October 14, 2007.promised to restore China's major lakes: Keith Bradsher, "China Offers Plan to Clean Up Its Polluted Lakes," New York Times, New York Times, January 23, 2008. January 23, 2008.unfit for human consumption: Data from 2005 Chinese Ministry of Water Resources, cited in Gleick and Morrison, 147.one-fifth of wastewater is treated: Diamond, Collapse Collapse, 364.curtailed for want of adequate river volumes: "Drying Up," Economist, Economist, May 19, 2005. In the northwest, some factories were permanently closed due to water shortages. May 19, 2005. In the northwest, some factories were permanently closed due to water shortages.reliance on groundwater has doubled: Yardley, "Under China's Booming North, the Future Is Drying Up."one-third of its land is severely degraded: De Villiers, 48.Chinese official requests to excise: "Don't Drink the Water and Don't Breathe Air," Economist, Economist, January 24, 2008. In 2006 China had recorded 60,000 pollution-related domestic disturbances. January 24, 2008. In 2006 China had recorded 60,000 pollution-related domestic disturbances.Hu's Green GDP report: Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley, "As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes," New York Times, New York Times, August 26, 2007. August 26, 2007.cost of environmental loss: Economist staff, "A Ravenous Dragon: Special report on China's quest for resources," Economist, Economist, March 5, 2007, 18; David Barboza, "China Reportedly Urged Omitting Pollution-Death Estimates," March 5, 2007, 18; David Barboza, "China Reportedly Urged Omitting Pollution-Death Estimates," New York Times New York Times, July 5, 2007.uses three to 10 times more water: Yardley, "Under China's Booming North, the Future Is Drying Up."consume 42 times more water: Diamond, Collapse Collapse, 362.immense dams on the upper basins of the Mekong and the Salween: Jim Yardley, "Seeking a Public Voice on China's 'Angry River,'" New York Times, New York Times, December 26, 2005; Seth Mydans, "Where a Lake Is Life Itself, Dam Is a Dire Word," December 26, 2005; Seth Mydans, "Where a Lake Is Life Itself, Dam Is a Dire Word," New York Times, New York Times, April 28, 2003; Ma, x. The plans included 13 dams on the heretofore undammed Nu River-called the Salween in Myanmar-including one of the world's biggest that would produce more hydroelectricity than Three Gorges. The dams on the Mekong and its tributaries would threaten the unusually powerful, oscillating flow of Tonle Sap-causing the tidal lake's size to expand and contract fourfold-which was vital to Cambodia's livelihood, as well as the volume and quality of the river reaching Vietnam. April 28, 2003; Ma, x. The plans included 13 dams on the heretofore undammed Nu River-called the Salween in Myanmar-including one of the world's biggest that would produce more hydroelectricity than Three Gorges. The dams on the Mekong and its tributaries would threaten the unusually powerful, oscillating flow of Tonle Sap-causing the tidal lake's size to expand and contract fourfold-which was vital to Cambodia's livelihood, as well as the volume and quality of the river reaching Vietnam.1997 U.N. Watercourses Convention: Turkey and Burundi, both upriver riparians, were the other two treaty rejecters. Many other countries abstained and the treaty was never ratified. However, it became part of the growing body of customary principles governing international water issues. Its two main principles, evolved over three decades, were that all riparians were entitled to equitable utilization of the watercourse's resources and that countries would not behave in ways that significantly harmed other river states. A third, less-well-established principle held that countries would not act in any way that foreclosed another riparian's future use of the river's resources-a placeholder principle aimed at protecting late-developing, poor countries against overexploitation by early users."Southern China has too much water": Mao Zedong, quoted in Ma, 143.eastern and central routes began: Erik Eckholm, "Chinese Will Move Waters to Quench Thirst of Cities," New York Times, New York Times, August 27, 2002; Ma, 136137, 143144; Kathy Chen, "China Approves Large Project to Divert Water to Dry North," August 27, 2002; Ma, 136137, 143144; Kathy Chen, "China Approves Large Project to Divert Water to Dry North," Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal, November 26, 2002. November 26, 2002.travel by tunnel under the Yellow River: Pearce, 219221.The diversion project: David Lague, "On an Ancient Canal, Grunge Gives Way to Grandeur," New York Times, New York Times, July 24, 2007; Eckholm, "Chinese Will Move Waters to Quench Thirst of Cities." By 2007 progress was being made-some of the stench had cleared, small fish life had returned, and urban renewal was visible along rehabilitated stretches-but many experts remained incredulous that it could be restored to an environmentally healthy state. July 24, 2007; Eckholm, "Chinese Will Move Waters to Quench Thirst of Cities." By 2007 progress was being made-some of the stench had cleared, small fish life had returned, and urban renewal was visible along rehabilitated stretches-but many experts remained incredulous that it could be restored to an environmentally healthy state.Pumping water across the mountains: Eckholm, "Chinese Will Move Waters to Quench Thirst of Cities" Ma, 144.fall as much as a third below its farming needs: Economist, Economist, "Ravenous Dragon," 18. "Ravenous Dragon," 18.
Chapter Seventeen: Opportunity from Scarcity: The New Politics of Water in the Industrial Democracies each North American uses: Economist, Economist, "Sin Aqua Non," April 11, 2009. "Sin Aqua Non," April 11, 2009.three centuries of increasing twice as fast: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 107.American water withdrawals peaked in 1980: U.S. Geological Survey, "Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000."U.S. water productivity: Gary H. Wolff and Peter H. Gleick, "The Soft Path for Water," in Gleick, World's Water, 20022003, World's Water, 20022003, 19. All figures are in constant 1996 dollars. 19. All figures are in constant 1996 dollars.Japan's economic productivity per unit of water: Specter, 70. Japan's water use per $1 million of water fell from 50 to 13 million liters between 1965 and 1989.soft-path efficiency approach: The soft path concept was originally proposed by the influential Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute in the mid-1970s in response to the oil crisis. He argued that the West's chief response should be to reduce energy demand through greater efficiency, thereby lowering supply needs and breaking the long-standing correlation between growth and the absolute level of energy consumption. The soft path to water, based on similar reasoning, was elaborated by Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute, with acknowledgment of his intellectual debt to Lovins.10 agricultural workers or 100,000 high-tech jobs: Gleick, "Making Every Drop Count," 45.profligate farming practices: Peter H. Gleick, cited in Timothy Egan, "Near Vast Bodies of Water, the Land Still Thirsts," New York Times, New York Times, August 12, 2001; "Pipe Dreams," August 12, 2001; "Pipe Dreams," Economist, Economist, January 9, 2003; Douglas Jehl, "Thirsty Cities of Southern California Covet the Full Glass Held by Farmers," January 9, 2003; Douglas Jehl, "Thirsty Cities of Southern California Covet the Full Glass Held by Farmers," New York Times, New York Times, September 24, 2002. September 24, 2002.Bass brothers: Charles McCoy and G. Pascal Zachary, "A Bass Play in Water May Presage Big Shift in Its Distribution," Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal, July 11, 1997; "Flowing Gold," July 11, 1997; "Flowing Gold," Economist, Economist, October 10, 1998; Brian Alexander, "Between Two West Coast Cities, a Duel to the Last Drop," October 10, 1998; Brian Alexander, "Between Two West Coast Cities, a Duel to the Last Drop," New York Times, New York Times, December 8, 1998. December 8, 1998.internecine battles: The first battle was with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which controlled almost all of San Diego's access to water and didn't want to lose its largest client.ecosystem health of the Salton Sea: Kelly, n.p.Imperial Valley lost: Dean E. Murphy, "In a First, U.S. Officials Put Limits on California's Thirst," New York Times, New York Times, January 5, 2003. Los Angeles's water authority also lost water; California was forced to draw more from its reservoirs to make up the critical shortfalls. January 5, 2003. Los Angeles's water authority also lost water; California was forced to draw more from its reservoirs to make up the critical shortfalls.30 million acre-feet: San Diego County Water Authority, Water Mangement, "Quantification Settlement Agreement," www.sdcwa.org/manage/mwd-QSA.phtml#overview. See also Imperial Irrigation District, "News Archive 2003," November 10, 2003, http://www.iid.com/sub.php?build=view&idr=1264&page2=1&pid=761."They should pay $800": Mike Morgan, quoted in Kelly.large geothermal field: "Something Smells a Bit Fishy," Economist, Economist, April 10, 2008. One caveat to exploiting the geothermal field was that existing environmental preservation plans for the Salton Sea had to be modified so its geothermal corner could be drained and exploited. April 10, 2008. One caveat to exploiting the geothermal field was that existing environmental preservation plans for the Salton Sea had to be modified so its geothermal corner could be drained and exploited.desalinization plants in California in exchange for an extra draw: Gertner.Las Vegas: Las Vegas was also pursuing traditional hard infrastructure, such as controversial multibillion-dollar long-distance pipelines to carry groundwater pumped from land purchased in east-central Nevada, and building a new, deeper intake valve in Lake Mead.$500 an acre-foot: "Dust to Dust," Economist, Economist, March 7, 2009, 39. March 7, 2009, 39.court rulings and federal restoration: Under the groundbreaking federal Central Valley Project Improvement Act (1992), wildlife and ecosystem uses were given equal priority with long-favored irrigation; many farmers' water rates had increased tenfold in the 1990s as a result.Orange County, California: Randal C. Archibold, "From Sewage, Added Water for Drinking," New York Times, New York Times, November 27, 2007. November 27, 2007.Desal costs in California had fallen: Peter H. Gleick, Heather Cooley, and Gary H. Wolff, "With a Grain of Salt: An Update on Seawater Desalinization," in Gleick, World's Water, 20062007, World's Water, 20062007, 68. Coastal Florida, where groundwater supplies were badly overdrawn and plentiful brackish estuaries provided low-salt-content water that was cheaper to purify to drinking quality levels, and ever-thirsty California had long been America's leading laboratories for desalinization experiments. Texas was also another leading player. 68. Coastal Florida, where groundwater supplies were badly overdrawn and plentiful brackish estuaries provided low-salt-content water that was cheaper to purify to drinking quality levels, and ever-thirsty California had long been America's leading laboratories for desalinization experiments. Texas was also another leading player.7 percent of the entire state's urban water use: Ibid., 65. That figure is based on usage in 2000. On the San Diego plant, see Felicity Barringer, "In California, Desalinization of Seawater as a Test Case," New York Times, New York Times, May 15, 2009. May 15, 2009."If we could ever competitively": John F. Kennedy, quoted in Economist staff, Economist Technology Quarterly, Economist Technology Quarterly, 24. 24.Projections of market growth: Peter H. Gleick and Jason Morrison, "Water Risks That Face Business and Industry," in Gleick, World's Water, 20062007, World's Water, 20062007, 161. 161.New York City's water network: Galusha, 265.reservoirs were chronically choked: Andrew C. Revkin, "A Billion-Dollar Plan to Clean the City's Water at Its Source," New York Times, New York Times, August 31, 1997. August 31, 1997.1,500-page, three-volume agreement: Galusha, 258259.New York City would spend $260 million: Winnie Hu, "To Protect Water Supply, City Acts as a Land Baron," New York Times, New York Times, August 9, 2004; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, "Watershed Protection Programs," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, http://www.epa.gov/region02/water/nycshed/protprs.htm. Some $200 million was allocated for upgrading treatment plants. August 9, 2004; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, "Watershed Protection Programs," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, http://www.epa.gov/region02/water/nycshed/protprs.htm. Some $200 million was allocated for upgrading treatment plants.$70 million for sundry infrastructure repairs: About $200 million in improvements to treatment of wastewater entering the reservoirs from sewage plants was also approved.complicated land swap: "A Watershed Agreement," editorial, New York Times, New York Times, September 10, 2007. September 10, 2007.Water to the Everglades: Damien Cave, "Everglades Deal Shrinks to Sale of Land, Not Assets," New York Times, New York Times, November 12, 2008. November 12, 2008.city would not need any additional water supply: Galusha, 229.last inspection in 1958: Andrew C. Revkin, "What's That Swimming in the Water Supply? Robot Sub Inspects 45 Miles of a Leaky New York Aqueduct," New York Times, New York Times, June 7, 2003. June 7, 2003.team of deep-sea repair divers: New York City Department of Environmental Protection, "Preparation Underway to Fix Leak in Delaware Aqueduct," press release, August 4, 2008. The high-pressure diving operation was not New York's first underwater repair experience. During a weeklong exercise in December 2000, a team of divers was lowered by crane inside a diving bell into another portion of aqueduct and worked to seal off a coin-sized hole in an old bronze valve from which water was spewing at 80 miles per hour. The great nightmare of engineers would be a tunnel leak under the Hudson River, which would be very hard and perilous for divers to get to and repair."Look, if one of those tunnels goes": James Ryan, quoted in Grann, 91, 96, 102.took a seat at the mole's controls: Sewell Chan, "Tunnelers Hit Something Big: A Milestone," New York Times, New York Times, August 10, 2006. The mole had been used in drilling the innovative Channel Tunnel linking England and France. August 10, 2006. The mole had been used in drilling the innovative Channel Tunnel linking England and France.one of New York's most critical infrastructures: Grann, 97.America's 700,000 miles of aging water pipes: Lavelle and Kurlantzick, 24.Global water infrastructure needs: Pearce, 304.T. Boone Pickens: In Pickens's case, the 250-mile pipeline from the Panhandle to Dallas was being developed imaginatively in conjunction with electrical power generated by the world's largest wind farm.five giant global food and beverage corporations: J. P. Morgan calculated the amount to be 575 billion liters per year; cited in "Running Dry," Economist, Economist, August 23, 2008, 53. August 23, 2008, 53.water needed to produce one kilowatt-hour had plunged: U.S. Geological Survey, "Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000."modern mills using only six tons: Gleick, "Making Every Drop Count," 44.Perrier Vittel: "Are You Being Served?" Economist, Economist, April 23, 2005, 77. April 23, 2005, 77.water-conscious companies: Among those reporting corporate water use and setting future targets were Intel, IBM, and Sony in high tech/electronics, pharmaceutical/biotech producer Abbott, Nippon Steel, automotive giants Volkswagen, Toyota, and General Motors, forestry products maker Kimberly-Clark, and food and beverage companies Unilever, Nestle, and Coca-Cola. Gleick and Morrison, 154155.Brazilian tomato farmers: Ibid., 149.Anheuser-Busch: Among the companies engaging their supply chains were Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Unilever, Nestle, Gap, Johnson & Johnson, and oil refiner Chevron. Coca-Cola experienced a bitter foretaste of water's potential political risk when it was accused of abusing scarce groundwater resources in India. Although Coke was later exonerated in court, the negative publicity posed a reputational threat to its priceless brand name, as well as harming local market sales. To publicize its green commitment to treating all its wastewater by 2010, Coke began putting schools of fish in tanks filled with treated wastewater at its bottling plants across the world.by one-quarter roughly doubled: Wolff and Gleick, "Soft Path for Water," 19. The calculation is based on 80 percent agricultural water use in the area.to sprinklers and microirrigation systems: According to the U.S. Geological Survey, irrigated acreage under sprinklers or microirrigation rose from 40 percent in 1985 to 52 percent in 2000. McGuire, "Water-Level Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 2002, 1980 to 2002, and 2001 to 2002."American farm pollution: Europe's farm pollution regulations were more muscular.biological dead zone without fish life: Bina Venkataraman, "Rapid Growth Found in Oxygen-Starved Ocean 'Dead Zones,'" New York Times, New York Times, August 15, 2008. August 15, 2008.Australia faces the industrialized world's: Diamond, Collapse, Collapse, 379380, 384, 387, 409. 379380, 384, 387, 409.southeastern Murray-Darling: "The Big Dry," Economist, Economist, April 28, 2007, 81. April 28, 2007, 81.facilitate independent water trading: Peet, 1314."transpiration credits": "Are You Being Served?" Prices adjusted to higher-volume use and seasonal availability, and including wastewater treatment in calculating water's final price, lay ahead.decline in the Murray's flow: "Big Dry," 84.Australia's agricultural land: Diamond, Collapse, Collapse, 413. 413.Bush administration's Environmental Protection Agency: "Clearer Rules, Cleaner Waters," editorial, New York Times, New York Times, August 18, 2008. August 18, 2008.inextricably interdependent: Elizabeth Rosenthal, "Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat," New York Times, New York Times, February 8, 2008. February 8, 2008.20 percent of all California's electricity: Wilshire, Nielson, and Hazlett, 252. Data is from a 2005 California Energy Commission report. See also Meena Palaniappan, Emily Lee, and Andrea Samulon, "Environmental Justice and Water," in Gleick, World's Water: 20062007, World's Water: 20062007, 151. 151.northeastern U.S. power failure: Jane Campbell, interview with author, March 17, 2008.Italy's severe drought in 2003: "Emergency Threat in Dry Italy," BBC News, BBC News, July 14, 2003, news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/Europe/3065977.stm; "The Parched Country," July 14, 2003, news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/Europe/3065977.stm; "The Parched Country," Economist, Economist, October 26, 2007. October 26, 2007.carbon dioxide in the atmosphere: Kolbert, 201203. In 2007, the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that with almost total certainty planetary warming was man-made. Andrew Revkin, "On Climate Issue, Industry Ignored Its Scientists," New York Times, New York Times, April 24, 2009. April 24, 2009.Dutch have begun to pioneer: Smith, Man and Water, Man and Water, 28-33; Kolbert, 123127. 28-33; Kolbert, 123127.reduce California's total municipal water consumption: Wilshire, Nielson, and Hazlett, 252.potential choke points: Simply trying to keep bands of Somali pirates from hijacking vessels off the lawless Horn of Africa enlisted the navies of more than a dozen nations-including China, India, Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Turkey, England, France, and the United States-in 2008, without notable success.world's abject water poor: United Nations Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation, 13, 17.U.N. Millennium Development Goals: A more ambitious target of providing every person with access to safe, clean water and sanitation by 1990 had failed to be achieved as part of the U.N.'s International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (19811990; the new downscaled targets were set to coincide with the conclusion of the U.N.'s new, aspirational International Decade for Action "Water for Life" (20052015).Camdessus report: Nicholas L. Cain, "3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto Disappointment and Possibility," in Gleick, World's Water 20042005, World's Water 20042005, 189196. 189196.
Epilogue.
not enough planetary environmental resources: Diamond, Collapse, Collapse, 487494, 495. Diamond estimates that the average Westerner consumes 32 times more resources than low-impact third world citizens and that the per capita effect of everyone attaining a high environmental-impact lifestyle would increase world resource consumption twelvefold-an unsustainable environmental burden on planetary resources based on today's technologies and practices. Water strongly influenced almost every one of the 12 great problems Diamond concludes have to be solved for twenty-first-century civilization to adjust without great trauma. These include deforestation, collapse of fisheries, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, energy shortages, freshwater depletion, photosynthetic capacity, toxic chemical pollution, invasions by alien species, climate change, sheer population levels, higher impact levels of consumption, and waste by several billion more people. 487494, 495. Diamond estimates that the average Westerner consumes 32 times more resources than low-impact third world citizens and that the per capita effect of everyone attaining a high environmental-impact lifestyle would increase world resource consumption twelvefold-an unsustainable environmental burden on planetary resources based on today's technologies and practices. Water strongly influenced almost every one of the 12 great problems Diamond concludes have to be solved for twenty-first-century civilization to adjust without great trauma. These include deforestation, collapse of fisheries, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, energy shortages, freshwater depletion, photosynthetic capacity, toxic chemical pollution, invasions by alien species, climate change, sheer population levels, higher impact levels of consumption, and waste by several billion more people.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY.
This select bibliography reflects two contrasting challenges presented by the research. First, while water's role in history per se has rarely been a central focus of previous books, many historians and scholars from diverse fields have insightfully treated its influential aspects in their own major works. Part of the bibliography, therefore, reflects my effort to pull these ideas together into a cohesive framework and narrative. Second, today's world water crisis is producing an explosion of wide-ranging and substantive literature on current water issues that is far too extensive to comprehensively list. Regrettably, I have had to exclude all news and most other periodical articles from the bibliography; a few that are the source of cited facts are covered in the notes. I drew heavily from current events reporting from the New York Times, New York Times, the the Economist, Economist, and the and the Washington Post, Washington Post, as well as the BBC, the as well as the BBC, the Financial Times, Financial Times, the the Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal, and many magazines. I have omitted separate bibliographic entries for periodical and research articles that are included in listed compendiums; again, some of these works are cited in the notes. There is as well vast informative content-official, academic, reportorial, and eclectic-available on the Internet, which has provided rich background, but which is not referenced either in the select bibliography or the notes. and many magazines. I have omitted separate bibliographic entries for periodical and research articles that are included in listed compendiums; again, some of these works are cited in the notes. There is as well vast informative content-official, academic, reportorial, and eclectic-available on the Internet, which has provided rich background, but which is not referenced either in the select bibliography or the notes.
Achenbach, Joel. "America's River." Washington Post Magazine, Washington Post Magazine, May 5, 2002. May 5, 2002.
Aicher, Peter J. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. Wauconda, Ill.: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1995. Wauconda, Ill.: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1995.
Allan, J. A. The Middle East Water Question: Hydropolitics and the Global Economy. The Middle East Water Question: Hydropolitics and the Global Economy. London: I. B. Tauris, 2002. London: I. B. Tauris, 2002.
Alley, Richard B. The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future. Our Future. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000.
Alwash, Azzam. "Water at War." Natural History, Natural History, November 2007. November 2007.
Amery, Hussein A., and Aaron T. Wolf. Water in the Middle East: A Geography of Peace. Water in the Middle East: A Geography of Peace. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000.
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