Water Societies and Technologies from the Past and Present

Today oursocieties face great challenges with water, in terms of both quantity andquality, but many of these challenges have already existed in the past. Focusingon Asia, Water Societies and Technologiesfrom the Past and Present seeksto highlight the issues that emerge or re-emerge across different societies andperiods, and asks what they can tell us about water sustainability. Incorporatingcutting-edge research and pioneering field surveys on past and present watermanagement practices, the interdisciplinary contributors together identify howsocieties managed water resource challenges and utilized water in ways thatallowed them to evolve, persist, or drastically alter their environment.The casestudies, from different periods, ancient and modern, and from differentregions, including the Indus Basin, the Yangtze River, the Mesopotamian floodplain, theearly Islamic city of Sultan Kala in Turkmenistan, and ancient Korea, offercrucial empirical data to readers interested in comparing the dynamics of watermanagement practices across time and space, and to those who wish to understandwater-related issues through conceptual and quantitative models of water use. Thecase studies also challenge classical theories on water management and socialevolution, examine and establish the deep historical roots and ecologicalfoundations of water sustainability issues, and contribute new grounds forinnovations in sustainable urban planning and ecological resilience.