Water Engineering and Management Through Time

Learning from History 1st Edition Enrique

Cabrera download

https://ebookname.com/product/water-engineering-and-management-
through-time-learning-from-history-1st-edition-enrique-cabrera/

Get the full ebook with Bonus Features for a Better Reading Experience on ebookname.com
Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) available
Download now and explore formats that suit you...

Enhancing Learning and Teaching Through Student

Feedback in Engineering 1st Edition Chenicheri Sid Nair

https://ebookname.com/product/enhancing-learning-and-teaching-
through-student-feedback-in-engineering-1st-edition-chenicheri-
sid-nair/

A Farm Through Time The History of a Farm from Medieval

Times to the Present Day 1st Edition Angela Wilkes

https://ebookname.com/product/a-farm-through-time-the-history-of-
a-farm-from-medieval-times-to-the-present-day-1st-edition-angela-
wilkes/

Water and Wastewater Engineering Mackenzie Davis

https://ebookname.com/product/water-and-wastewater-engineering-
mackenzie-davis/

Speaking with Skill An Introduction to Knight Thompson

Speechwork 1st Edition Dudley Knight

https://ebookname.com/product/speaking-with-skill-an-
introduction-to-knight-thompson-speechwork-1st-edition-dudley-
knight/
Journal Keeping How to Use Reflective Writing for
Learning Teaching Professional Insight and Positive
Change Dannelle D. Stevens

https://ebookname.com/product/journal-keeping-how-to-use-
reflective-writing-for-learning-teaching-professional-insight-
and-positive-change-dannelle-d-stevens/

Integration Ready Architecture and Design Software

Engineering with XML Java NET Wireless Speech and
Knowledge Technologies 1st Edition Jeff Zhuk

https://ebookname.com/product/integration-ready-architecture-and-
design-software-engineering-with-xml-java-net-wireless-speech-
and-knowledge-technologies-1st-edition-jeff-zhuk/

AH 64 Apache Units of Operations Enduring Freedom Iraqi

Freedom First Printing Edition Jonathan Bernstein

https://ebookname.com/product/ah-64-apache-units-of-operations-
enduring-freedom-iraqi-freedom-first-printing-edition-jonathan-
bernstein/

The Internet and Democracy Building in Lusophone

African Countries Susana Salgado

https://ebookname.com/product/the-internet-and-democracy-
building-in-lusophone-african-countries-susana-salgado/

Principles and Practice of Percutaneous Tracheostomy

1st Edition S. P. Ambesh

https://ebookname.com/product/principles-and-practice-of-
percutaneous-tracheostomy-1st-edition-s-p-ambesh/
Adhocism the case for improvisation Jencks

https://ebookname.com/product/adhocism-the-case-for-
improvisation-jencks/
 WATER ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT THROUGH TIME – LEARNING FROM
HISTORY

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Water Engineering and
Management through
Time – Learning from
History
Editors
Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui
ITA, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 CRC Press/Balkema is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK

Typeset by MPS Ltd. (A Macmillan Company), Chennai, India

Printed and bound in UK by Antony Rowe (a CPI group company), Chippenham, Wiltshire

All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information contained herein may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written prior
permission from the publisher.

Although all care is taken to ensure integrity and the quality of this publication and the
information herein, no responsibility is assumed by the publishers nor the author for any
damage to the property or persons as a result of operation or use of this publication
and/or the information contained herein.

Published by: CRC Press/Balkema

P.O. Box 447, 2300 AK Leiden, The Netherlands
e-mail: [email protected]
www.crcpress.com – www.taylorandfrancis.co.uk – www.balkema.nl

ISBN: 978-0-415-48002-4 (Hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-203-83673-6 (eBook)

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Table of Contents

Foreword VII
Fernando Moreno García
Preface IX
Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

Part A – Introduction
1. Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 3
Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

Part B – Water engineering and management through time

2. Water engineering and management in the early Bronze Age civilizations 29
Pierre-Louis Viollet
3. Water engineering and management in Ancient Egypt 55
Larry W. Mays
4. Water engineering and management in the classic civilizations 77
Henning Fahlbusch
5. Water engineering and management in al-Andalus 117
José Roldán & Maria Fátima Moreno
6. Hydraulic advances in the 19th and 20th centuries: From Navier over Prandtl
into the future 131
Willi H. Hager

Part C – The great challenges of water in the 21st century

7. Water, history and sustainability, a complex trinomial hard to harmonise in
Mediterranean countries 171
Concepción Bru & Enrique Cabrera
8. Water and agriculture. Current situation and future trends 199
Martín Sevilla Jiménez
9. Water and the city in the 21st century. A panoramic vision 227
Steve Buchberger & Enrique Cabrera
10. European water research: From past to future trends 245
Avelino González
11. The interdisciplinary challenge in water policy: The case of “water governance” 259
J.E. Castro

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 VI Table of Contents

12. The future of water management: The case for long-range hydraulic
interconnections 277
M. Fanelli
13. Water resources in developing countries: The millennium development
goals in the 21st century 291
C. Fernández-Jauregui
14. Water challenges in the 21st century 303
Philip H. Burgi

Part D – Conclusions
15. Conclusions 337
Enrique Hernández Moreno

Author index 341

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Foreword

Historically nobody has doubt about the importance of water as a fundamental resource, necessary
for the human being but also for the proper economic and social development of cultures and
civilizations.
But it is in the last years where the public awareness about water has gained bigger importance.
The increasing needs of water for human supply and agricultural use, together with a less availability
of the resources has make the water be a permanent matter of attention, and its management, an
authentic challenge for the companies involved in that task, to whom they arise constant needs of
providing innovative and sustainable solutions of the management pattern of water’s integral cycle.
Therefore it has a huge value to look back and observe what our predecessors has done in this
hard and noble task of putting the water at the citizens disposition, which difficulties have they
had and how they find the solutions in order to learn the lessons that water management history
through the pass of time has left us, to try to face with the biggest success the future challenge of
the management of a limited and essential resource like water.
The book that you have in your hands just exactly deals about this and it is a great pleasure
for aqualia to collaborate in this line with the university world, trying once more to combine the
academic knowledge and the daily practice, hence to be more useful to the whole society.
With actions like this we will try to approach to all the people and show them that behind
water’s enjoyment in quality and quantity there is a very complex process that has to be managed
by qualified and skilled professionals, experts in all the phases of water’s integral cycle. With our
participation in publications like this we will like to contribute a little bit more in the popularization
and knowledge of this sector.
Therefore I invite you to use the information contained in every chapter of the book and enjoy
the reading, learn and thought it over.

Fernando Moreno García

General Manager of aqualia Gestión Integral del Agua

VII

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Preface

The challenges water policy has to face this 21st century are enormous. Among others, it is worth
to mention in first place the need to guarantee access to drinking water and to a decent hygiene
level for all the inhabitants of a planet that has almost tripled its population in the last six decades.
The second issue to be mentioned is a growing contamination that must be dramatically reduced.
In tune with the growth of mankind, during last decade pollution has increased at an unsustainable
pace. Last, water policy must ensure to cover, with scarcer resources, not only the human, industrial
and agricultural needs, but those required by the ecosystems as well. It is worth to underline that in
the last few decades have supported a deep deterioration. This is a rather complex task because in
some decades, climate change threatens will reduce available water resources in dry areas a very
significant amount (up to 40%).
This book focuses on these and other issues of to the future’s water policy. Nothing new under
the sun, since rivers of ink have been spent, are spend and will be spent trying to identify not
only the actions that are convenient to ensure a more sustainable future than the present is, but
also the great difficulties to overcome to put these actions in practice. The novelty lies, we believe,
in the approach to perform the analysis. It is inspired in the great historian Edward Gibbon who,
while walking around Rome’s ruins, wondered how such an impressive culture had fallen so low.
The answer can be found in his famous book, “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire”. To some extent, the Mediterranean’ water culture has lived a similar history.
In fact, water engineering history has written its most glorious pages in many countries in which
actually water is poorly managed. In most of them, current water policies are simply unsustainable.
And history repeats itself. Brilliant solutions of the past – though in another context – claim for
an adaptation to present day. And this is not an easy task. In his conclusions Gibbon states that
what does not evolve, is decadent. After all, it is the immobilism what encumbers policies valid
until some few decades ago, now unsustainable. If the present work contributes to unblock what
is now blocked, mainly in countries lying on the Mediterranean’ shores, the effort put on a book
of complex genesis will be worth. Its root, papers presented at an international seminar which was
held under the same name at the University of Alicante (Spain) in mid-2006. But, because the final
objective of this publication was to become a book rather than the proceedings of a meeting, a
later analysis of their contents evidenced some weakness to overcome. This is the reason why this
publication includes five contributions not scheduled initially. By the other hand, most of papers
presented at the seminar have been updated by the authors.
The result is a book of fifteen chapters organised in four sections. The introduction includes just
a chapter that provides the general framework. The second section, Water across time, gather five
lessons corresponding to periods in which Water Engineering has written some of its most brilliant
pages. The third section, under the title Great challenges of water in the 21st century, is integrated
by seven chapters that review some of the more relevant problems of present-day water policy.
Last, a shortest section includes some conclusions and summarises the contents of the preceding
chapters.
Arrived to this point of this prologue, must be recognised the obvious. There are many periods
of this history and many relevant cultures that are not described in the book and, for sure, some
actual serious concerns are not discussed. The reason is evident. A wider analysis would require
much more time, making unfeasible this work. In fact, Gibbon devoted nearly twenty years of his
life to his book. Nevertheless the contents as it is should be enough to achieve the aim we initially
set to ourselves, to identify the way of the future. And for such purpose it is necessary to gain some
historical perspective otherwise, we will not be able to see wood for the trees.

IX

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 X Preface

This book presents a singular water engineering history. Singular because it has mostly been
written by engineers, with the inevitable advantages and disadvantages involved. After all, most
of the improvements that water management has witnessed over time have been developed by
engineers. However, they have not anticipated the strong environmental impacts caused by many
of the solutions they conceived. Because of that, the analysis of the best and the worst of these
solutions is the right way to learn from history. We presently live in a new era, the 21st century,
which requires solutions able to integrate many different points of view in a world – that of great
hydraulic public works – whose scale has grown considerably in the last decades. After all, what
has multiplied the dimensions of the problem is precisely this change of scale.
Nowadays water policy must be analysed from many different perspectives. Here lies its grandeur
and its complexity at the same time. It is fascinating because it involves jurists, biologists, historians,
geographers, engineers, economists, chemists, geologists, sociologists and, last but not least,
politicians and the society as a whole. All of these groups have a specific opinion about it. Moreover,
it will also deeply concern professionals and citizens of forthcoming generations. After all, today’s
decisions affect them much more than it will influence those who are now adopting them. Although
they are key players in this process they will never have the chance to participate and take decisions
in the crucial issues. Water policy must harmonise many opinions and interests, most of them not
directly represented. The main objective of this book is to show water policy integration from an
engineering and historical perspective. You, as a reader, will judge to what extent we have succeeded
in our objective.
Last, we must mention those who have made possible this book. First and foremost, thanks to
the authors, excellent professionals but, above all, friends. Secondly, our thankfulness goes to the
University of Alicante, represented by Professor Concepción Bru, co-author of one of the chapters.
After all, that University housed the embryo of this book, the seminar previously mentioned that
was supported as well by Iberdrola, CAM, and Aguas de Alicante. Thirdly, we want to thank
AQUALIA. Its sponsorship, has covered the costs generated by the preparation and printing of this
book. And last, it would be unfair to close this list without mentioning Janjaap Blom and CRC
Press/Balkema – Taylor and Francis Group. Their patience for the meticulous and careful edition
of the book is very much appreciated. They all have our most sincere gratitude.

Valencia, April 2010

Enrique Cabrera and Francisco Arregui,

ITA
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
Spain

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Part A
Introduction

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 CHAPTER 1

Engineering and water management over time.

Learning from history

Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

ITA, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain

ABSTRACT: If there is an activity in which human beings have displayed all their ingenuity, it is
water management. The need for water both as a means of support and as an essential sustenance
made the first irrigation systems appear already in the earliest civilisations. The present book
reviews the inseparable binomial ‘human ingenuity-water management’, a harmonic relationship
until the early 20th century. Everybody did the right thing in each historical period until then. But
the beginning of last century brought a number of vertiginous changes which were going to alter the
harmonic relationship that had always existed. These changes became actually faster over the years,
to such an extent that the traditional harmonic relationship has finally ceased to exist during the last
decades. The problem lies in the fact that the dramatic technological and social changes have not
been accompanied by the institutional and cultural changes required to ensure that the spectacular
economic growth was also sustainable. The reflection that follows – a prelude of the historical
review of water engineering carried out in this book – tries to show how those vertiginous changes
have not had the necessary counterweights, which has caused clear imbalances. The imbalances
are so serious that water now forms part of the politicians’ agenda in every country and not only
in arid countries, as was the case until very recently. And this is happening increasingly often. Our
ultimate aim is therefore to provide the reader with a perspective that is broad enough to have a
better understanding of the tremendous challenge that the current generation has to face. After all,
only an exhaustive knowledge of the problem will guarantee success at its resolution.

1 INTRODUCTION

We are living in a period during which the magnitude of the changes that occur, and the speed at
which they succeed each other, are so significant that, from this perspective, one of the current
decades would be equivalent to a century for those who preceded us. Indeed, the world left by the
present-day generations has nothing to do with the world that they knew during their childhood.
This is the differential fact which characterises the time we are living now as opposed to the one
that our ancestors lived through. Until just over a century ago, it hardly mattered from any point of
view (economic, social or cultural) to have been born one hundred years earlier or later. It was the
same to live in the 11th century or in the 12th century, for instance. But this does not apply to us,
who were born in the 20th century, and it will not apply either to those who have just arrived, or who
still have to arrive, during the present 21st century. It is obvious that the improvement experienced
in nearly all the aspects that form the broad concept that we know as ‘quality of life’ has been
spectacular. However, that huge improvement has had a clear loser, the natural environment where
we live, the essential ingredient of which is water – the central topic in this book.
The aforementioned changes summarise the transformation of a largely rural population, that
of the early 20th century, into an urban population, the one that is typical of the 21st century. The
demographic growth experienced in the last few decades and its concentration in very small spaces
(an issue that this book is going to treat in greater detail in the chapter specifically devoted to
water and the city), has generated a number of dramatic environmental impacts that, since they
are unavoidable, it will be advisable to minimise. This is certainly a hard task, as more often
3

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 4 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

than not there are conflicting interests at stake. What is convenient in the short term (a rapid
economic growth) is not the best choice from the long-term perspective: to respect the natural
environment. Therefore, reaching that balance point which can reconcile both perspectives is not a
straightforward, immediate task.
After all, the culture that prevails today is based on the short term, if not on immediacy. The
Latin philosophy of carpe diem is in the DNA of 21st-century’s society, and the natural environ-
ment is the main loser in that obsession with obtaining immediate results. The term ‘sustainability’
is permanently found in the politician’s discourse, simply because almost nothing is sustainable
nowadays, which grants full validity to the Latin expression Excusatio non petita, accusatio mani-
festa. People speak about ecological agriculture as a different way of cultivating the land, when just
a few centuries ago, the term did not exist, simply because all agriculture was ecological. We have
coined the concept of ‘environmental impact’ to quantify the extent to which a specific anthropic
action affects the natural environment – another new term which was unnecessary before the 20th
century. And finally, it was the enormous environmental impacts generated by the great projects
which, after arousing deep social concern, catalysed one of the most socially relevant initiatives
undertaken by the United Nations. First, with the Brundtland report entitled “Our Common Future”
(CMMAD, 1988), which laid the foundations of sustainable development, and shortly after, with
the Rio Summit of 1992, where the ideas materialised in specific plans and road maps.
The water policy of the last decades represents a paradigmatic example of the far-reaching
transformation which took place during the 20th century. Within the context of the massive hydraulic
development that characterised the first half of the last century, man thinks that it is possible to
satisfy the ancient wish to transport water from where it is abundant to where it is scarce. And states,
as they always did, assume the costs associated with a set of impressive infrastructures which are
built enthusiastically because they are the ‘banners’ of modernity. Nobody raises any objection
whatsoever. Nobody expresses their opposition to them. Nobody contemplates the possibility of
carrying out a cost-benefit analysis that can justify them. And because their environmental impacts
(the clear collateral damages caused by these great infrastructures) are still unknown, euphoria runs
wild. We must wait until the second half of the 20th century to see society starting to question the
construction of so many works, an unrest that will culminate, when the end of the century is near,
in the abovementioned report elaborated by the Brundtland Commission.
Technological development entails the disproportionate self-esteem of human beings, who even
believe that they will be able to dominate Nature. So much so that society enthrones those who
plan these works. This is proved by the statement of Rouse, one of the most remarkable civil
engineers of the 20th century: Hydraulic engineers are human too (Rouse, 1.987), which shows
the enormous prestige that civil engineers had in mid-twentieth-century society. But this comment
is made when the zenith of the great hydraulic work has already been reached, which can be easily
associated with the construction of the Aswan dam, right in the middle of the 1960s. Curiously
enough, that zenith or peak of the massive hydraulic development policy is going to pronounce the
death sentence of the most mythical delta in the world, that of the river Nile. With a capacity to store
five times as much water volume as the Hoover dam, the most emblematic one in the United States
(it is worth remembering that this dam changed the ‘face’ of Las Vegas desert), Aswan was ‘sold’
to the society as The barrier against famine in Egypt, a slogan that time has eventually placed
in its right context. The reality is summarised with great mastery by Kerisel, a brilliant French
civil engineer, in his book The Nile, the hope and the anger. From wisdom to lack of moderation
(Kerisel, 1999).
And, of course, the most favourable context for this culture to take full root is represented by the
areas where those desires for water have always existed. In other words, it is on the shores of the
Mediterranean, as is going to be seen in the following chapters, that the history of water engineering
has written its most brilliant pages. It is a wish that will slow down the changes that the new ‘man-
natural environment’ dialogue is going to demand in its new context. Because it is undoubtedly in
these regions that the weight of history is most influential and the inertia is stronger. And while
technology and society evolved so slowly between the dawn of civilisation and the late 19th century,
that water policy did not have much trouble to adapt to the successive changes which took place;

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 5

this harmony is broken with the arrival of the 20th century. The desirable thing would have been
to match the speed at which changes took place with an agile response that could adapt the culture
and management structures to the new framework. But the reality has been quite different. Culture
and vested interests have encumbered changes to a greater extent precisely in those countries which
most badly needed them. Amongst others, all those bathed by the Mediterranean, where water has
always been scarce, especially during the frequent drought episodes. This scarcity has generated a
culture which still remains intact today.
In short, as far as the relationship between man and natural environment is concerned, the
changes occurred in the last one hundred years have exceeded by far the variations seen during
several millennia. These changes were the materialisation of the immense possibilities offered by
modern technology. And the speed of change contrasts with the inertia and culture of a society
that had always been able to manage water wisely, until just a few decades ago. For this reason,
the challenge that present-day society has to face now is to match up to its ancestors: to give the
adequate response to the moment in which that society is living.

2 ASPECTS IN THE MAN-WATER INTERRELATIONSHIP WITHOUT

BACKGROUND CHANGES

The first human settlements were established on the banks of springs and rivers, simply because
there is no life without water. But man soon learns to transport water across the distance, which
is going to allow him to occupy new territories. And also very soon, man observes that irrigation
multiplies crops, which justifies why the history of water linked to irrigation is as old as fascinating.
That is not the case for the third conventional use, the industrial one, which will have to wait until
the eighteenth-century industrial revolution to start competing with the traditional uses that had
prevailed until then: the human use and the agricultural one. What has been said above explains
that the history of the water-man relationship is the history of mankind itself which, packed with
nuances and anecdotes, has of course been kept through time as it should.
Although their dimensions are quite different, many of the aspects in the ancient man-water
relationship have hardly changed. This is so because, though the actions of human beings on water
have become more aggressive with the passing of time, that technological development which
permits to attack water also contributes somehow to laminate it. And when the necessary changes
have benefited everyone (with all-win solutions), they have been introduced in a relatively easy
way, facilitating a harmonic relationship. The problems arise when there are conflicting interests
which hinder the adaptation measures required, i.e. those which can help us minimise impacts.
This section is going to list the main aspects in the man-water relationship – ten in all – which
the passing of time has not significantly altered, though the dimensions of that interrelationship are
of course completely different. We will later analyse other interrelationships which either develop
in a context that has nothing to do with that of antiquity or are simply new relationships that have
proved to be unsustainable over time.
The importance of civil engineering in the world of water. The next chapters provide a detailed
description of some of the infrastructures that man has constructed through the centuries seeking
to achieve a better use and management of water. Dams, canals, aqueducts, tunnels, and pluvial
water collection facilities, thousand-year-old works that still amaze us. In any case, the discovery
of reinforced concrete during the second half of the 19th century substantially changed the scale
of a relationship that had been much friendlier until then. Large dams are going to multiply the
advantages and the disadvantages, which is why they are one of the specific issues that will be
discussed later on, separating them from the general set of civil works.
Water and extreme events. Human beings have always been concerned not only about rises in
river levels and floods but also about droughts. Chapter 41 of the Genesis refers to the droughts that
Egypt periodically suffered. It is shown during the episode in which Joseph interprets the Pharaoh’s
dream. There is also evidence of periodical overflowings of the Nile which contributed to increase

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 6 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

the fertility of the lands situated near its banks. More or less frequently, there is no geographical
area on Earth that is unaware of some extreme events that climate change threatens to boost. In the
Mediterranean, however, people have always coexisted with them.
The large dams which started to be built in the early 20th century largely alter – for the better,
in this case – the consequences of these extreme phenomena. On the one hand, they permit to
laminate the floods (and therefore the overflowings) and, on the other hand, they permit to increase
the volume of water stored, thanks to which a better management of droughts is possible. The
negative consequences entailed by their construction will be reviewed later on.
Conflicts over water. It is worth remembering that the word rival comes from the Latin rivalis –
those who are on the banks of the river (riva). And because, especially in those places where water
is scarce, man has always wanted to control this natural resource competing with whoever it was
necessary, the term rival has been extended to any kind of dispute. However, it is also necessary to
underline that those disputes have seldom led to wars (Wolf and col., 2005). A completely different
matter is the use of water during a war, e.g. the cutting (or poisoning) of the supply sources of a
city as a strategic weapon. The next section – water and wars – will deal with this issue.
In recent years, the conflicts associated with water have deserved a lot of attention, above all in
the United States (Gleick, 1998; Beach et al., 2000; Pryor, 2006) and all the analyses draw the same
conclusion: water has nearly always been a catalyst of peace rather than a cause of war (Asmal,
2000). And occasions for discrepancy are abundant. After all, nearly 300 basins are shared between
different countries throughout the world. As a matter of fact, there were 214 in 1978 but, after the
dismembering of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia (completed in 2005 in the second case), there
are nearly fifty more now (263). And we can also find frequent internal conflicts between different
regions of the same country. Spain is one of the countries where these conflicts are becoming
increasingly frequent (Cabezas and col., 2010). There are even cases of conflicts inside the same
region where the different uses (generally the growing urban demand as opposed to the traditional
agricultural use) compete with one another (Molle and Berkoff, 2006). A particularly complex case
is that of the capital of Mexico, to which we will refer later on.
The problem lies in the fact that, whereas rivalry was confined to lands situated near the banks or
shores in the ancient times, now technology has made it possible to transport water as far as we want,
as a result of which disputes are arising increasingly often between regions which are hundreds
of kilometres away from each other. Two web pages offer a detailed list of the numerous conflicts
that have taken place. One of these pages (www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu) corresponds to the
University of Oregon, specialised in these matters, as shown by the fact that it imparts a Programme
on Conflict Management [in the context of] water policy. Also the Pacific Institute specifies the
chronology for many of these disputes (www.worldwater.org/conflict.html), while at the same time
it makes an invitation to add items to a list that will become significantly longer during the 21st
century. Not in vain, these conflicts are intrinsic to human condition and, of course, to human
needs. How else can we understand sentences like that of Mark Twain (he lived in California at
the end of the 19th century): “In the west, whisky to drink and water to fight”? Or the one which
has formed part of the cultural heritage of the fertile regions of Valencia for many centuries “Water
makes you more drunk than wine”.
Water and wars. Because water was needed to survive, human beings have always tried to inhabit
places where water supply was guaranteed, even when towns were besieged. All the necessary works
were undertaken for that purpose. After all, the fastest way to make a town surrender was to cut its
water supply. Bonnin describes some of the infrastructures that were developed in order to ensure
water supply (Bonnin, 1984), which sometimes included the construction of large subterranean
galleries which provided access to nearby inconspicuous water sources always situated outside the
walled town. Amongst other cases, Bonnin describes the gallery that King David constructed in
Jerusalem three thousand years ago in order to gain access to the springs in Gihon.
The literature offers countless examples of besieged towns to which water supply was cut, this
being always the first action of those who were attacking it. Even the Romans, who used this
strategy on numerous occasions, suffered it in the city of Rome itself. It was in 537 A.D. – when the
Roman Empire was already falling into decline – when the Ostrogoth Vitiges cut the 14 aqueducts

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 7

that fed it during the siege to which he subjected it (Dembskey, 2009). The eternal city resisted
thanks to its wells and, above all, to the Tiber.
This strategy of cutting or poisoning the water supply to towns has sadly returned to the fore-
ground in some countries after the attacks against the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. It is the
case of the United States or Israel. The situation is so serious that the Journal of Water Resources
Planning and Management, ASCE, devoted a whole monographic issue to it in 2006. Its editorial
(Ostfeld, 2006) summarises the state of the art in this field.
Water and laws. Due to the common disputes provoked by water, as soon as the earliest social
communities were established, one of the first issues that they subjected to regulations was the
right to – and the use of – water. One of the earliest pieces of evidence can be found in the code of
Hammurabi (Fig. 1a), which dedicated seven articles to the regulation of these issues already four
thousand years ago (Bonnin, 1984). The thousand-year-old Tribunal de las Aguas [Water Court]
of Valencia still remains active (Fig. 1b). Of Arab provenance, it was created by Abderrahman III
and its origins date back to the 10th century (Giner Boira, 1997).
Water legislation is one of the most complex issues in civil law nowadays. The coexistence
of historical rights – strongly consolidated from the legal point of view – with the more modern
legislation required to deal with present-day problems – such as the contamination to which the
whole Water Framework Directive (UE, 2000) has been dedicated – makes water legislation become
more and more complicated each day. This is especially true in countries with a long legislative
tradition, without a doubt those where water has always been a scarce resource. However, if the
difficulties derived from the new environmental framework were not enough, the current trend to
political decentralisation ends up in new federal – or similar – structures which increase complexity
even more in many countries (Embid and Hölling, 2009). It is the case of Spain. And it all without
forgetting the international legislation that has to deal with the problems inherent to cross-border
rivers (Phelps, 2007). In any case, the current legal difficulties must have the same order of
magnitude as the ones that our ancestors had to face, with the distance imposed by the time
elapsed, of course.

Figure 1a. The code of Hammurabi (Louvre

Museum). Figure 1b. The Tribunal de las Aguas in Valencia today.

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 8 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

Figure 2. The Albolafia today.

Water as a source of renewable energy. The kinetic energy of rivers was very soon used to drive
waterwheels which permitted to raise water. According to Rouse, wheels were used for this purpose
at least one thousand years before Christ in Egypt, Mesopotamia and China (Rouse and Ince, 1963),
though other authors date the appearance of these wheels 500 years later (Bonnin, 1984). The use
of waterwheels in Spain was above all spread by the Arabs, and it is even possible to visit some of
these wheels, like the Albolafia (Fig. 2) in Cordova. Built in the 9th century by Abderrahman II,
it raised the water from the river Guadalquivir to the Emirs’ Palace – now the Episcopal Palace.
It is reported to have been functioning until the late 15th century when Queen Isabel – who was
staying at the Alcázar in 1492, a few months before Columbus’ first departure toward America –
had it dismantled because the squeaking of the buckets moving around the wheel did not allow her
to sleep.
Not only waterwheels and wheels but also many other hydraulic machines were used in ancient
times. Amongst others, stand out the Archimedean screw (also known as Archimedes’ screw)
or Ctesibius’ piston pump. It is particularly interesting to have a look at Bonnin’s chronological
table of the raising machines used in antiquity which additionally includes their specific hydraulic
capabilities (Bonnin, 1984).
As far as the modern hydraulic turbines are concerned, we have to wait until the mid-eighteenth
century when Euler first describes jet turbines (Rouse and Ince, 1963). However, these machines
would still have to wait two more centuries – when the great dams of the 20th century were built –
to reach all their splendour. Their presence creates spectacular slopes and they make it possible
to take huge volumes of flow through the turbines. The rise and development of hydroelectricity
throughout the 20th century is impressive. Viollet wrote a brilliant chronicle about this story not
long ago (Viollet, 2005).

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 9

Figure 3. The Itaipu hydroelectric power station at the border between Brazil and Paraguay.

Itaipu (see Fig. 2) – at the border between Brazil and Paraguay – stands out among the greatest
hydroelectric exploitations. It started operating in 1982 and, when three decades have gone by, it is
still the world’s largest hydroelectric power station with its 14,000-Mw power, though it will lose
that status as soon as the hydroelectric power station built next to the Three Gorges dam in China
starts functioning.
The Three Gorges dam serves to clearly highlight the inconveniences and advantages of works
that have made possible man’s old wish: to dominate the natural environment in order to put it
at the service of his interests. This dam is going to house the largest hydroelectric power station
in the world. Its 22,500 Mw can be at work shortly (about 2011) and will exceed by 50% Itaipu’s
current record. The dam permits to regulate the floodings of the river and generate an enormous
amount of clean electricity for China, the country which emits the most greenhouse effect gases.
Its environmental and social cost is inestimable, though. The ecosystems in the surrounding envi-
ronment have been irreversibly affected and its construction entailed the displacement of more than
a million people.
Regarding the water-energy binomial, it thus seems evident that human beings are taking full
advantage of nature’s hydroelectric wealth. And if they not exploit that wealth even more, it is not
so much due to the respect for the natural environment but, above all, because the cost-benefit ratio
of the infrastructures that still have to be planned does not justify it. This is why, at this stage, it
is advisable to ask oneself whether all these actions are sustainable over time or they will take its
toll sooner or later. Obviously, we are by no means questioning the end sought: to obtain the clean,
renewable energy that contributes to such an extent to reduce the emission of greenhouse effect
gases. What can be debated upon is the way to achieve it: the dam. But, of course, man has always
aspired to taking as much advantage as possible of nature. One way or other, only time will tell if
we have perhaps gone too far.
Water and communications. When speed does not matter too much, fluvial transport has been
more advantageous than land transport for heavy and sizeable objects. And, of course, since time
did not matter too much in antiquity, maritime and fluvial transport acquired great importance. In

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 10 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

Figure 4. Floodgates in the Panama Canal between the Atlantic and the Pacific.

fact, the Egyptians used the Nile more than 4,000 years ago as the means of transport for the large
stone blocks with which they built their pyramids and obelisks. There is even evidence (Bonnin,
1984) of the possibility that existed to navigate from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea 3,500 years
before the construction of the current Suez Canal promoted by Fernando Lesseps. This is recorded,
amongst others, by the great historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus. Navigation mostly took place
in one arm of the Nile.
With the passing of time, the importance of this transport has never stopped growing and civil
engineering has indeed played a beneficial role from any point of view in this field. It has made
possible to turn non-navigable stretches into navigable ones and, with the help of floodgates, it has
permitted to solve the problem posed by the slopes that dams generate in rivers, or, as in the case
of the Panama Canal, by the slopes existing between two oceans (Fig. 4).
The river Danube constitutes one of the most remarkable examples of fluvial navigation in the
world. It is worth highlighting that it is the second longest river in Europe (2,850 Km) and its basin
is shared by 17 countries. It is, therefore, a unique case (Wolf and col., 2005) that acquired great
relevance in antiquity, both because in the times of the Roman Empire its course formed a border
and because it was the main connection link with the Asian regions. At present, it is the only fluvial
corridor in the European Union (Fig. 5) and, using the canal that links the Danube with the rivers
Rhine and Main, it permits to navigate from the Black Sea to the port of Rotterdam, already in the
Atlantic.
Nevertheless, from a global perspective, maritime transport has lost some of the importance
that it used to have in ancient times, especially after the irruption of railway and sea transport.
However, it is the most sustainable of all environmentally speaking and its cost by unit of weight
is approximately seven times lower than that of road transport.
Water and measurement. Man has always felt the need to measure the flow of water that circulated
through rivers and canals. But it took him a long time to establish the ratio between the useful
passage section and the speed, despite the fact that Heron of Alexandria had correctly formulated

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 11

Figure 5. The Danube, one of the ten Pan-European transport corridors.

the continuity equation already in the 2nd century before Christ. Centuries later, everything seems
to suggest that the Romans were not aware of the ratio existing between speed and flow (Rouse
and Ince, 1963). Due to all this, the measurement consisted in monitoring water level in ancient
times. It is worth highlighting among all these measuring instruments the well-known nilometers
(Viollet, 2000), the most famous ones being those which can still be visited on the Elephantine
island, very near to the Aswan dam. The level-measuring instruments have been used across the
centuries and, in fact, they permitted to divide or distribute the water for irrigation among the
different farmers’ communities in the Middle Ages. Hence the name of ‘partidores’ (dividers) that
they have in the fertile regions of Valencia. The sentence pronounced by the Count of Ribagorza
about the distribution of the waters from the river Mijares in 1347 is another example of this (García,
1997).
And while the water in rivers and canals was measured in limnimeters, the consumption of
pressurised water was monitored from the very first moment with calibrated tubes known as ‘calix’
(Bonnin, 1984). Made of bronze (and not of lead, in order to prevent deformation), their diameter
and length were perfectly defined, which permitted to control the flow supplied for a specific
pressure. This system is still used today. In the case of Spain, it was used until the installation of
water meters became widespread. However, in those countries where it is not obligatory to measure,
the system is still at work.
In fact, it is necessary to wait until Leonardo reformulated the continuity equation at the beginning
of Renaissance (Barbera, 1983), through it is Castelli that will first establish it formally in 1628,
more than one hundred years after Leonardo’s death. Therefore, most of the measuring instruments
used nowadays (with the exception of volumetric instruments and limnimeters) determine the
circulating volume from the flow speed at different points of a specific passage section (Arregui
and col., 2007).

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 12 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

Figure 6. Thermae of Caracalla ruins in Rome (beginning of the 3rd century A.D.).

In any case, water flow measuring has been a permanent concern for human beings, a concern
that is being aggravated as time goes by, due both to the scarcity of this resource and to the costs
that its sustainable management entails. After all, it is essential to determine its consumption so that
each party can assume their corresponding expenses.
Water, health and leisure. The modern SPA (Salus per Aquam) facilities, which have become
habitual in many higher-range hotels, have inherited not only the tradition of Roman baths but
even their name. They reached their maximum splendour during the Roman Empire – as is visible
from the ruins that have survived to the present day (Fig. 6) – but they were already common much
earlier, associated with Greek gymnasiums. Actually, the first baths about which there is a written
record are those of the Knossos palace in Crete, already nearly four thousand years ago (Bonnin,
1984).
As for the water-health-leisure trinomial, things have changed very little, or rather have not
changed at all, with the passing of time. Whereas in most of the preceding comparisons, even
though the essence was kept, man’s action has quite different dimensions, the same thing cannot
be said about the thermae. The rooms where those hot baths were located two thousand years ago
were decorated with wonderful statues, frescos and mosaics. They could easily stand alongside the
best facilities of this kind available today.
Water and beliefs. In nearly all sets of beliefs, water has a spiritual value that any other natural
resource lacks, no matter if it is a precious metal like gold or a precious stone like the diamond or
the emerald. It is particularly relevant in this respect to remember the declaration that faith groups
made in 2006 within the framework of the Water World Forum held in Mexico (FMA, 2006). It
literally says that For Judaism and Christianity, water is essential at the beginning of rituals. Letting
the clean, fresh and living water fall symbolises God’s spirit and makes possible the manifestation
of a new spiritual world. For Islamism, the character of cleanness and the power of water are vital.
For Muslims, cleanness becomes a rite before approaching God in their prayers. For Hinduism,
water also occupies a special place due to the spiritual cleanness powers, as Hindus strive to
reach physical and spiritual purity. For the native peoples, water is sacred; it is an offer of life
and connection to everything that exists within a broad unity that is celebrated through rituals of
cleanness and gratitude.
And if the water-beliefs relationship has so much relevance nowadays, you can imagine how
important it was in ancient times when man’s inability to understand natural phenomena immedi-
ately suggested him associating extreme events (droughts, heavy rains or floods) with supernatural
causes. Thus, many rivers were considered divinities (in the case of Egypt, for instance, the Nile
was the second deity after the Sun God) while purification rites with water were present in nearly
every culture. Consequently, one can hardly expect water to lose that halo of spirituality which has
always accompanied it.

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 13

3 THE NEW FRAMEWORK IN THE MAN-WATER INTERRELATIONSHIP

While man’s anthropic action was compatible with nature because the impact caused by the engineer-
ing works carried out was negligible, the interrelationship between man and water was sustainable.
But in the 20th century, massive hydraulic development along with pollution start to break the
balance to such an extent that the side effects are clearly noticeable after a few decades. This gen-
erates the social unrest that precedes any innovative policy, which will effectively break the inertia
of the past. It will culminate in 1983 with the assignment made by the UN General Assembly to
a Commission specifically created for that purpose, the World Commission on Environment and
Development, which would be presided by the Norwegian Gro Harlem Brundtland. The assignment
consisted in preparing “A global programme for change” with very specific aims:

– To propose environmental strategies to reach sustainable development in 2000

– To materialise the concern about the environment in a higher level of international collaboration
– To explore the most suitable strategies to deal with environmental problems
– To define common environmental sensitivities

In the light of the facts, we have not only failed to achieve these aims, but have in effect moved
gradually away from them, which is the reason why hydraulic engineering – the brilliant history and
evolution of which is going to be reviewed in the following chapters – must rigorously reflect once
again on the role that it played in the 20th century. It has now become clear that the idea is not to
subjugate nature – as it was initially believed – but rather to act in tune with it. We must consequently
reconcile development and the improvements in the quality of life standards of society with nature
conservation: that is what sustainable development means. In fact, few years after the publication of
the Brundtland report, the Task Committee on Hydraulic Engineering Research Advocacy (ASCE,
1996) carried out a deep self-criticism exercise admitting that:

– Research and education have not been articulated properly.

– Researchers do not adequately connect with the real needs of society.
– Hydraulic training has not been adapted to the needs of the labour market.
– Hydraulic engineers have to think more broadly and with greater foresight.

It is evident that civil engineering has played an essential role in everything that regards the
management of water resources, so much so that the 20th century is known as the last Golden Age
of hydraulics (Rouse, 1987 and Plate, 1987) and because he made ancient dreams come true, the
hydraulic engineer achieved the maximum social prestige during those decades. It has already been
said that Rouse found it necessary to state that hydraulic engineers were not gods but human beings
(Rouse, 1987). However, everything has a limit and, very soon, the crisis of the massive hydraulic
development policy is going to show that water policy needs to be designed from different – and
simultaneously complementary – perspectives.
Nevertheless, the civil engineer’s role in water management is irreplaceable and will always have
the maximum relevance. It cannot be forgotten that the solutions have come, are coming and will
inevitably come from the field of engineering. For this reason, it does not seem logical to apply the
pendulum law either. And something like this happened when, during the third World Water Forum
of Kyoto in 2003, Profesor Stephenson, in his condition as representative of the IAHR (International
Association of Hydraulic and Engineering Research) felt that “in the Forum, Hydraulic Engineering
was only a drop inside an ocean” (IAHR, 2003). In this increasingly transversal and interdisciplinary
world, the engineer cannot be left out of the decision-making bodies. That is why more and more
engineers are defending the need for them to have a more active participation in the decisions
adopted by politicians (Sheer, 2010).
Therefore, after reviewing the aspects of the man-water relationship – the essence of water has
not been significantly altered – and following the analysis of the causes that start to make visible
the exhaustion of the relationship as it had always been understood, it is convenient to examine
the actual changes operated. First, we review the aspects in that relationship which, due to the

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 14 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

Figure 7. Framework for water policy development in the 21st century.

spectacular technological progress, has been altered to a large extent throughout the 20th century,
and especially during its second half. We have organised these aspects in two blocks. The first
block includes those in which there is a balance between advantages and disadvantages, whereas
the second one contains those in which the ratio has eventually become worse.

3.1 Significant changes occurred in the man-water relationship during the 20th century
with positive and negative aspects
3.1.1 A new framework for the man-water interrelationship
The litany that is often used to highlight the importance of water and which essentially focuses on
emphasising that it is fundamental both for the life of human beings and to keep all the ecosystems
alive has not lost and will never lose the slightest bit of truth. Water becomes much more important
every day, because it is needed by sectors such as tourism, industry and leisure. Therefore, we
must add to its traditionally acknowledged social character of water its status as an economic good,
without forgetting its environmental character either, of course. Water has always had this character
but it went unnoticed until overexploitation and contamination highlighted the need to take it into
account, above all if we do not want to further jeopardise the future of the coming generations.
Figure 7 shows that new framework which now houses the water policy.
Since what is more convenient for one axis goes against the interests of the other two in most
cases, the new framework is far more complex than the simpler one in which the water policy
developed until the last decades of the 20th century. The large hydraulic infrastructures – which
were built under a dogma, that of general interest, which nobody questioned – were not even
subjected to an elementary cost-benefit analysis, and their potential environmental impact was
simply ignored. At present, though, works can only be undertaken in any developed country if they
successfully go through the filter represented by each one of the three axes.
It is obvious that water policy in the early 20th century did nothing but follow the inertia of
history. Of course, the modest magnitude of the actions carried out until then (compared to the
dimensions of the large infrastructures that reinforced concrete will permit to build) did not alter
the natural environment. On the other hand, the absence of alternatives to the traditional (urban and
agricultural) uses and the impossibility to transport large flows over long distances guaranteed a
very slight pressure on water resources. And the impossibility to transport large volumes of water
across long distances also prevented the territorial conflicts that are so well-known to us today.
Summing up, the greater or lesser degree of exploitation of water resources carried out in each
historical period depended on the technological possibilities of the moment.
The three dimensions in the new framework are directly related to the following sections, as
they shape the difference between the traditional water policy and the policy that it is necessary
to implement if we want to guarantee the survival of future generations. We are referring to the

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 15

economy of water, to the competition between uses and the significant problems it entails and,
finally, to the environmental problems generated by the large hydraulic works.

3.1.2 The economy of water

Many reasons advise us to pass on consumers all the costs associated with their utilisation of water.
Two of them stand out from the rest. The first one is to guarantee both the efficient management
of the water distribution company and the rational use of those who consume it. In effect, the
efficiency of the system largely depends on the variable cost of water. It is explained by the concept
of optimum level of leaks within a water network; the value is determined minimising the sum of
the variable cost that can be attributed to the escaped water and the expenses required to maintain
the network with a specific level of losses (Cabrera and col., 2004). And from the consumers’
point of view, the price that they pay for water not only conditions their demand but, above all,
encourages them to be more efficient in its utilisation. Thus, for example, the investment required
to reuse grey waters or take advantage of rain waters in a dwelling will be repaid within a short
period of time if all the costs are recovered. If water is subsidised, the user has no motivation to bet
on this type of facilities, which save so much water.
The second reason lies in the economic sustainability of hydraulic infrastructures. At present,
every large investment demands to carry out a rigorous cost-benefit analysis that can justify it. And
it must additionally be demonstrated that the large infrastructure in question is the best solution
among all the possible alternatives. Apart from being highly indebted, the governments that used to
subsidise these works now have to face the growing social expenses associated with a population
whose life expectancy and needs grow over time.
In Europe, the importance of rigorously applying the principle of cost recovery appears in all
the documents published by the European Union in relation to water. From the Water Framework
Directive, which specifically dedicates article 9 to it (UE, 2000) until the more recent “Facing the
challenge of water scarcity and droughts” (CEC, 2007), where section 2.1 recommends that the
price of water should take into account all the costs derived from its sustainable use.
Nevertheless, irrigation has always been and is still highly subsidised in countries with an
agricultural tradition. Regardless of the fact that, if subsidies exist, they should encourage saving
(EEA, 2009) – because this is actually not the case in the subsidies applied at present – recent
studies commissioned by the European Union have shown that many of them not only do not
encourage saving but also contribute to deteriorate the environment, which is much worse (IEEP,
2009). One of the examples proposed in these analyses is precisely the subsidy to irrigation in
Spanish agriculture.
In conclusion, the economy of water – which was practically a marginal issue until a few decades
ago – is now going to become a key tool in the water policy of the 21st century, with all likelihood
the most important one.

3.1.3 Competition between uses

As said above, the massive concentration of population in urban areas, the deep changes occurred
and, finally, the technological development of the last decades has favoured the appearance of a
new scenario completely different from the one seen by the preceding generations. It is a scenario
that has made previously unthinkable conflicts come to the surface. Many others are going to be
described in what follows. Among them, we could highlight two specific cases: the disputes in the
Jucar basin between traditional farmers and the new crops on irrigated land, and the social conflict
generated by the enormous water needs of the Mexican capital city.
The example of the river Jucar is particularly appealing. The traditional farmers with thousand-
year-old historical rights over its waters work on lands near the coast where the mild climate has
always permitted to grow profitable products. At present, traditional farmers compete with new
irrigators who sow lands that, mainly for climate-related reasons, nobody had thought of cultivating
until a few decades ago. The European Union’s agricultural policies have done the rest. Subsidising
crops with dubious profitability, they distort what has been dictated by nature’s climate. It is not a
minor issue, as all the farmers involved are situated on the banks of the Jucar (the new ones on the

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 16 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

Figure 8. Gain of the river Júcar – water volume pumped in La Mancha aquifer (MIMAM, 2000).

upper stretch and the traditional ones on the lower stretch) and all of them have the right to use its
waters.
The solution adopted has been to encourage saving in the traditional irrigated lands and to release
part of the old concessions (the historical rights, 1000 Hm3 /year, were reduced to 350 Hm3 /year in
1999, a value that is still generous considering the irrigated surface area). But the problem has not
disappeared because, without any controls, irrigators extract water from the aquifer that feeds the
river Júcar, which has seen how its volume of water has diminished alarmingly (MIMAM, 2000).
This can be seen in Figure 8, which relates the pumpings of La Mancha aquifer with the water gain
of the river in the associated stretch. The natural underground contributions have fallen at the same
pace as the water volumes raised.
The second example – that of Mexico City – is well-known. Due to its spectacular growth during
the last decades, the aquifers which have always supplied water to the city are now insufficient
(their current contribution is situated about 65%). They soon had to resort to neighbouring basins,
the first one of them, the Lerma basin in the 1950s but, as the demand continued to grow, they
had to use the Cutzamala basin in 1982, planning a water transfer of more than 100 kilometres,
apart from other remarkable complementary works (eight new dams and some pumping stations
to overcome slopes of more that 1,000 metres). However, as the demand does not seem to have a
limit, they are thinking of boosting this transfer, which requires building a new dam, in the river
Temascaltepec this time.
We are talking about a huge social problem (Perló and González, 2005), because they cannot
leave part of a city like the capital of Mexico without water supply. But, on the other hand, the
native communities of the granting basins are witnessing their economic as well as social and
environmental problems multiply because of the endless drain into which Mexico City has been
transformed. It should consequently not surprise us to see how the opposition to new transfers is
bigger each day. This problem is really difficult to solve. On the one hand (Delgado, 2007), because
the natural limits of basins do not coincide with the administrative ones, an increasingly frequent
difficulty as we have highlighted in the section dedicated to water and laws. These situations could
never arise in the past because the technology available did not permit to move so much water
across such long distances, additionally overcoming spectacular topographical obstacles. Another
important difficulty has been highlighted (Delgado, 2007), namely the fact that the administration
with competences is fragmented, this being a problem to which Spain should find a solution too
(Cabrera and García-Serra, 1997).
We thus find ourselves before a scenario which was not contemplated by the individuals who
established the current rules of the game in the past. Consequently, there is an urgent need to design

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 17

new rules that permit to resolve all these conflicts in a rational way, leaving passion for other less
important issues. Time will only multiply problems. We must also urgently rethink and redesign
water administration so that it can become more efficient, logical and endowed with a greater
decision-making capacity. All this leads us once more to underline the main message behind this
reflection. The changes occurred at a vertiginous speed during the 20th century while the response
that they needed was strongly encumbered by the weight of history.

3.1.4 The great civil works and the associated environmental impacts
Although a reflection about the advantages and disadvantages of great civil works has already been
made in an indirect way, it is time to refer specifically to the advantages and disadvantages of dams,
those impressive engineering works which have revolutionised water management during the last
one hundred years. And it is appropriate because they undoubtedly bring together and summarise
the essence of the pros and cons associated with the technological development that has taken place.
Questioning the advantages that the possibility of storing and regulating large water volumes
entails from the operational point of view seems ridiculous. Having water available when rainfall
is scarce and being able to laminate the floods that follow a heavy rain period represents an
improvement that ancient civilisations would have loved to use. After all, it was always one of the
greatest wishes, as shown by the fact that, already six thousand years ago, one of the first kings of
the Menes dynasty ordered the construction in Memphis – the capital of Egypt at that time (it is
about 20 kilometres away from Cairo) – of the first documented dam (Rouse and Ince, 1963); and
it all without forgetting the renewable energy that can be generated through them, an issue that we
have referred to above.
However, the great benefits associated with reservoirs cannot hide the enormous impacts caused
by the presence of dams in the dynamics of rivers. Indeed, any river constitutes a complex ecological
system and its functioning is affected to a great extent by the presence of these artificial barriers.
The natural regime of water flows, the transport of solids, the dynamics of nutrients, the temperature
regime and, ultimately, water quality, all of it is altered, especially in the dry periods that are so
frequent in those geographical where dams are significantly abundant. It is worth remembering
that climate irregularity actually constitutes the main reason for their construction.
At this stage, and since dams are simply essential for many countries in the world, there are only
three possible action lines. The first one, despite being aware of the fact that it is impossible to bring
fluvial spaces back to its original condition, would be to manage them as sustainably as possible
(Armengol and col., 2008). The second one would be to use water in the most efficient possible
way to interfere with the natural environment as little as possible. Dams are the last solution and
not, as it happened during a large part of the 20th century, the first one. And the third line – when
the reasons justifying their construction vanish into thin air – is to demolish them in order to bring
the fluvial space back to its original state. This is what has been done lately in the United States
(Wildman and col., 2008).

3.2 Significant negative changes occurred in the man-water relationship during

the 20th century
In the course of the last few decades, society has become fully aware that water in particular and
natural resources in general require a more sustainable management. However, the problem not only
continues but is even becoming worse because the solutions and measures that are being adopted,
despite being numerous, are still insufficient to counteract man’s anthropic action. The following
subsections highlight some of the most relevant problems directly or indirectly related to water.

3.2.1 The growing increase of contamination

The utilisation of water degrades its quality, but the impact of spillages of used waters on the natural
environment until the mid-twentieth century was non-existent in the medium-long term because
the natural depurative process sufficed to return its original quality to water. However, halfway
through the 20th century, the contamination generated by human activity provoked much more

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 18 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

unrest because the natural environment is unable to assimilate the spillages that it receives, those
coming from the city both because their water volumes increase (urban growth has been spectacular
from 1950 onwards) and because they additionally include non-biodegradable products like those
which are present in detergents.
Widespread agricultural contamination is not too far back in time. The irruption of agrochemicals
in the fields – the synthesis of new products that will be used as pesticides and herbicides (Pascual,
2009) – was spectacular after the discovery of DDT in 1939. Its discoverer, Muller, received the
Nobel Prize for this achievement. Farmers used aggressive and hardly selective chemical products
which not only finished with the characteristic plagues of crops but also attacked all the ancillary
fauna and altered the system’s ecological balance. And it is also during this period that nitrogenous
fertilisers start to be administered generously. Due to the lack of knowledge about the processes,
a large proportion of the fertilisers did not reach the plants. Instead, they ended up contaminating
aquifers after being dragged by the irrigation water and together with agrochemicals.
And finally, we must refer to the most worrying contamination, the industrial one. The eco-
nomic and technological development that followed World War II – the third industrial revolution –
indicates the beginning of the globalisation of the economy. International borders are opened and
competition on a global scale, and with it the need to increase competitiveness, becomes the
differential fact. The main victim of this globalisation is most probably going to be the natural
environment in general and the water environment in particular. Many industrial processes require
water. It will receive a contaminant load (metals included) during its utilisation. Initially, that water
would be spilt with no treatment whatsoever, which is why developed countries were going to
react soon before the evident deterioration of the receiving masses. This has not been the case in
many developing countries, where industrial spillages are not subjected to any type of treatment
yet. That is why contamination is the most serious problem that 21st-century water policy has to
face. Especially in countries like China (Gleick, 2009), which has based its spectacular economic
growth during the last decade on the minimisation of its production costs, unattainable for the
rest of industrialised countries, amongst other reasons, because they are sparing themselves the
environmental costs, among which stands out the one associated with giving its initial quality back
to water.
The importance has been widely acknowledged since antiquity. Bonnin tells us a number of
episodes in which the springs that gave supply to a population nucleus were poisoned. It became a
key strategy at war times (Bonnin, 1984). The poisoning provoked by the lead of the pipes which
transported water was also common in Rome, a problem that exists still today. And, finally, also
in Rome, they built the aqueducts that brought the pure water from the Appenines in order not to
drink the water from the Tiber, the course that received the flow of the city sewers. In any case, the
dimension of those isolated and transitory contamination problems suffered by those who preceded
us have nothing to do with the current ones.
Present-day contamination is consequently an extremely negative differential fact, and it is most
probably the main problem that water policy will have to face in the 21st century. This is shown
by the Water Framework Directive (UE, 2000), the aim of which is simply to recover and protect
all waters (continental surface, transition, coastal and ground waters). Neither should it come as a
surprise that the motto chosen for the World Water Day in this year 2010 was “Clean water for a
healthy world”.

3.2.2 The complex access to water and hygiene for millions of inhabitants
To ensure that all the planet inhabitants can drink good-quality water and enjoy a minimum basic
level of hygiene is one the greatest challenges that Society has to face. For this reason, one of
the chapters in this book is specifically dedicated to the compliance of the millennium challenges.
In any case, we now summarise the state of the art taking into account the last World Health
Organisation report (WHO, 2010). In particular, regarding hygiene, there is a significant delay
with respect to the millennium goals. Whereas the objective for 2015 was that only 23% of the
world’s population would lack such a basic service, 36% of those who inhabit this planet (2.7 billion
people) will still have this problem in that year. Luckily, access to drinking water is going somewhat

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 19

better than expected. Only 672 million people (9%) will not have it at their disposal, though many
more, 3.5 billion people (47%) will not have an easy access to it, i.e. through a tap at their homes.
Finally, we should not forget either that 4,000 children die every day due to the absence of these
services, a figure that may be irrelevant in relative terms, but heartbreaking in absolute values.

3.2.3 The overexploitation of surface resources

Man’s wish to exploit all surface waters reaches its peak in Spain with the figure of the illustrious
regenerationist politician Joaquín Costa who, after the collapse of the colonial dream in 1898 after
the loss of the last enclave in America, the island of Cuba, arrived to say that “Spain will not
leave behind its backward state while rivers lose one drop of water in the sea” (Costa, 1911). And
indeed, today, in the 21st century, there are many Spanish Mediterranean rivers (Mijares, Turia and
Segura, amongst others) which do not get to the sea. And these cases are not exclusive to the east
of Spain. The same happens to one of the most emblematic rivers in the United States, the river
Colorado. Overregulation has turned that wild river excavated by the world’s most famous canyon
into a different river which languishes and dies before reaching the Gulf of California.
Therefore, the wish of those who lived centuries ago in areas where water was scarce has come
true with its advantages and disadvantages, making desalination play an increasingly prominent role
in areas near the coastline where rivers were already exhausted. This was not at zero cost, though.
Its high energy consumption (with all the emission of greenhouse effect gases that it entails) and
its high production cost, especially compared to the almost non-existent cost associated with the
surface water of traditional rivers, limit its use to isolated cases for the time being.

3.2.4 The overexploitation of ground resources

Taking into account the essential role that ground waters play at present, it may well be stated that
they were not widely used in the ancient times despite the fact that man became aware of their
existence at a very early stage. Most probably, the first one was a chance contact (Bonnin, 1984).
Needing to drill the ground looking for shelter, a hiding place or simply to bury the dead, he must
have found water at few metres’ depth. Thus, the first documented well was going to be built more
than 6,000 years ago about 10 km away from Belgrade.
Nevertheless, the difficulty involved in drilling the ground with the means available at that time,
and especially the impossibility to raise water in significant amounts, made human beings excavate
galleries originating in the natural springs through which water came to the surface – except in not
very deep phreatic strata. After all, constructing horizontal galleries is much easier than drilling
the land. The earliest documented ones, situated in Armenia, date back to the 8th century before
Christ.
Because galleries permitted considerable water flows to rise naturally (which was absolutely
impossible with wells), many lands were irrigated with water coming from these galleries. Very
frequent in the South-East – like in any other territory where surface waters were scarce and the
phreatic stratum was not deep – they were constructed until the early 20th century, the moment in
which the technology that allowed human beings to raise water from considerable depths became
widespread (Hermosilla, 2006). The difficulty to raise water from those great depths had been the
greatest limiting factor until then.
The history of intensive exploitation of ground waters is therefore little more than a century
long. Because water collecting points were situated next to its utilisation place, the final costs were
reasonable and could be directly assumed by the developers. This absence of subsidies favoured a
very efficient use of this water. The higher supply guarantee during dry periods always contributed
to its implementation (Sahuquillo and col., 2005).
But precisely some of the abovementioned advantages have caused the main problems that this
kind of exploitation is facing nowadays. As the use of these waters was driven by private initiative,
the administration has hardly controlled the drillings made and even less the volume of water raised.
In Spain, most of them are illegal and many aquifers are overexploited because the water volume
extracted exceeds the natural recharge capacity nearly every year. More specifically, Figure 9
shows one of the most overexploited aquifers in the Alicante province, that of Carche-Salinas. It is

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 20 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

Figure 9. Evolution in the water raising depth at Carche-Salinas aquifer (Gil and Rico, 2006).

certainly worrying to see that in only 26 years (between 1979 and 2005) the water table has gone
down 250 m (from 60 m to 310 m), with an annual average of 10 metres descent. And in dry years,
that descent can reach 40 m on some specific occasions (Gil and Rico, 2006).
The short history of some aquifers is thus being extremely turbulent. Only a few generations
will have sufficed to squander a tremendously important natural heritage. We should not forget
either that the overexploited aquifers situated near the coastline end up becoming salinised. The
conclusion is clear: this situation has to be changed as soon as possible. We must impose order
where there is lack of order and make available all the necessary technical and human means so
that these highly strategic water reserves can be managed in a sustainable manner.

3.2.5 The loss of biodiversity

Until little more than a hundred years ago, the planet’s ecosystems had at their disposal practically
all the water in the planet. It is with the massive hydraulic development of the early 20th century
that man starts to interfere in the centuries-old water-ecosystems balance, diverting more and more
water each year for its use to the detriment of biodiversity. The worrying current state is described in
detail by a recent European Union report (EC, 2010) which admits – and its environment ministers
have just certified it precisely in the International Year of biodiversity – that they have failed in
the attempt to stop its progressive deterioration by 2010, a goal that they had set themselves some
years before. The figures are actually very worrying. 60% of the ecosystems are degraded and
biodiversity losses exceed (between 100 and 1,000 times) the normal rate. And what is worse, it is
known that over one third of the species evaluated are on the verge of extinction.
The loss of biodiversity is closely linked to climate change, to which we are going to refer next.
These are global problems that go beyond borders and one could even say that they are the two
sides of the same coin. That is why their resolution demands a joint treatment, though biodiversity
has been the poor brother so far. This was not seen as a real problem but rather as a question of
solidarity with the different life forms existing in the planet. However, it is actually more, much
more than that (Worm and col., 2006; NAAA, 2009), because the loss of biodiversity means an
economic – so far underestimated – cost of 50 billion euros a year for Europe. And unless the trend
is reversed, the bill will go up to 1.1 quintillion euros per year by 2050, 4% of its gross domestic
product. Therefore, we must act at once, which is why 2020 is the new deadline that the European
Union has set itself to start reversing the situation once and for all (EU, 2010).

3.2.6 The climate change

The climate change-water policy relationship is more than evident. According to most of the
prediction models used by the IPCC (Milly and col., 2008), halfway through the 21st century the
majority of arid or semiarid areas in the world will see how their water availability is reduced to a

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 21

Figure 10. Forecast for the variation in the water resources available halfway through the 21st century (Milly
and col., 2010).

very significant extent, up to 40% (Fig. 10), which means that the hydrological planning carried
out until now will need to go through an in-depth revision.
It seems consequently obvious that we must encourage water saving policies as much as possible,
and not only because of the lower availability (which is important too, of course) but also because
the sustainable management of water consumes a lot of energy, about 19% of the total in California
(CEC, 2005), which means that saving water is equivalent to significantly reducing the emission
of greenhouse effect gases and, therefore, to mitigating the effects of climate change.

4 THE CHANGE OF PARADIGM

In the light of the explanations above and regarding water policy, it is crystal clear that this generation
must inescapably succeed in overcoming formidable challenges during the next few decades. Only
if they cope successfully with these challenges will they be able to leave a habitable planet for the
coming generations. However, the current policies need to change to a great extent if we want to
succeed, especially in relation to time scales. Nowadays, nearly all the decisions are focused on
immediacy, or at best on the short term. However, what we really need is generosity and foresight.
It is not an easy change. Democracies elect their decision-makers for short periods of time. Terms
of office – generally between four and six years – represent very brief periods if we measure them
with respect to the time scale that applies to the natural environment. And since politicians have to
justify what they have done and accredit their good moves or decisions with specific results at the
end of their term of office, one can hardly expect them to adopt decisions in which results will only
be visible in the medium-long term – unless citizens, with a solid environmental education, can
understand the convenience of measures that are as unpopular as necessary. Therefore, it is vital
to make the general public aware of the serious risk we are running, and not only us but especially
the coming generations. As is going to be explained in greater depth later in another chapter of this
book, this task is more complex and necessary in semi-arid countries like the Mediterranean ones.
The brilliant history that we have just outlined, which is going to be shown in more detail through
the following chapters, is full of realisations and wishes. After several millennia, many of them
came true during the 20th century. It is not easy, therefore, to explain that what was valid across

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 22 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

so many centuries – since it really was valid then – has stopped being valid now. The change of
paradigm is thus complex.
This change of paradigm has come to be known as Nueva Cultura del Agua [New Water Culture]
in Spain (Martínez, 1997), whereas in the USA, Gleick (Palaniappan M., Gleick P.H., 2009)
has coined the expression “Soft Path for Water” for it. It is consequently a counterpoint to the
predominance of the large civil work that prevailed during the last century, a trend which could
be given the alternative name of “Hard Path for Water”. The essence of this new paradigm can be
guessed from what has been put forward so far because, somehow, the six basic pillars on which
it is supported have already come to the surface in a natural way. More precisely, they are the
following:
1. To guarantee the water required to cover the needs of the whole population
2. To guarantee the water needed to ensure the survival of ecosystems
3. To adapt the quality of water to the use that is made of it
4. To adapt the scale of facilities and infrastructures to that of the needs
5. To promote and encourage the involvement of citizens in the water policy
6. To implement rating systems that favour fairness and efficiency
None of the six preceding items requires a specific clarification because their importance has
already been highlighted, even that of the central ones (items 3 and 4) through indirectly in this
case. After all, they highlight how relevant it is to reuse water (grey water in dwellings and treated
urban ones for other uses, such as irrigation), to take advantage of rainwater or, ultimately, to
decentralise draining as much as possible (Sieker, 2008).
Finally, and within this change of paradigm, it is worth mentioning two new terms that have
acquired great popularity in recent years. We are referring to ‘virtual water’ and ‘water print’,
two very didactic and interrelated concepts which, despite not solving anything themselves, do
provide valuable information. The first one (Allan, 2003) is the result of counting the water needed
to produce a good – generally food – though the water required to produce an industrial good
is also counted. Thus, for example, if a plantation of orange trees of one hectare irrigated with
5,000 m3 /year of water produces 40,000 Kg of fruit: the unitary consumption of this citrus fruit
per unit of weight and in these specific conditions is 120 l/kg. Obviously, this value is only an
order of magnitude because it can vary to a great extent from one year to another. Pluviometry and
productivity, amongst other factors, have an influence on its value. The second term refers to a unit
of consumption, whether it is a person, a group of people or, ultimately, a nation. Thus, a person’s
water print would be the sum of the water that he/she uses directly from the supply network (say,
about 125 l/day) plus the one consumed indirectly with the food and drinks which the person in
question ingests.
Within a globalised world, the preceding concepts permit to convert the food trade into imaginary
water transfers. Therefore, it seems reasonable for a semi-arid country to encourage the production
of food that requires little water and to import those foodstuffs whose production requires large
volumes. Thus, the country where water is in short supply is importing virtual water from countries
where there is plenty. Some authors (Hoekstra and Hung, 2002) have made calculations for the
commerce of virtual water between countries. On the other hand, the water print corresponding
to one unit of consumption, for example, one country (Chapagain and Hoekstra, 2004) makes it
possible to evaluate the extent to which the water resources that it owns permit its self-supply and,
at the same time, to value the policies that can contribute to raise the supply guarantee. In short, it
is information of considerable interest on the path that leads to a more rational and sustainable use
of water.

5 THE CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE

The preceding analysis shows that the main problem for the current water policy lies in its inability
to evolve at the same speed as the events that have succeeded each other during the last century,

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 23

especially since the third industrial revolution which took place more than sixty years ago. It is
worth remembering – and this is only an example – that in such a short period of time (measured,
of course, with respect to the time scale for the history of mankind) human beings have overex-
ploited and contaminated strategic aquifers, a water source which was practically untouched one
hundred years ago and which has played a strategic role during that period of time. As far as the
natural environment is concerned, man has undoubtedly gone too far in recent years, above all in
those countries where, due to their water scarcity, history is packed with memorable milestones.
The marvellous thousand-year-old culture of water has a strong inertia – too much to respond
to the pace demanded by the vertiginous changes occurred during the last decades. On the con-
trary, Northern Europe – with less inertia and more flexibility – has found better responses to
the challenges posed by the future. This issue is thoroughly examined in one of the following
chapters.
It is extremely complex for Spain in particular and for Mediterranean countries in general to
change the current status quo in order to walk gradually toward the Soft Path for Water. In order
to be able to do it, it is previously necessary to introduce deep structural changes, starting with
water administration itself. And there are many interests which hinder it at very different levels.
Furthermore, since the majority finds it logical to carry on doing what has always been done
(subsidising water regardless of its use) the politician does not find enough reasons to implement
far-reaching changes in the traditional policies. It is especially relevant to insist on this idea for its
importance, because when the term of office allows politicians to execute the promised works, to
show off in the short term, the achievement of their main aim is guaranteed.
If we want to change the current dynamics, it becomes essential to educate citizens environ-
mentally. They must be taught why it is not advisable to look toward the future from the past, no
matter how proud citizens can be of the history of their nation – because they can certainly be
proud of that. And they also need to understand very clearly the whys and wherefores for that
which most annoys them: having to dip into their pockets. That becomes essential to implement
rates that permit to recover all the costs. And if there are reasons of any kind that prevent it, we
should establish subsidies which favour efficiency and are not detrimental to the environment.
Water is, without a doubt, the only manna which falls from heaven. And being free at its origin,
nobody can or must put a price on it. But the convenience of having water available in one’s own
dwelling and managing it sustainably so as not to compromise the future of the next generations
has a cost that the user has to assume. Environmental education is very important because, within
a democracy, politicians are not going to promote actions which are not supported by the majority.
That education has to eradicate the idea which has landed on nations located on the shores of the
Mediterranean with technological development: that economic growth demands mobilising more
water and that the latter is in unlimited supply. There is as much water as we may need. And the
State has the responsibility to bring it from where there is abundant water and – should there not
be any available – to desalinate sea water. That is essentially the mentality which guides our action
nowadays.
All the existing economic, control and management mechanisms must be implemented before-
hand in order to conclude that a certain territory needs more water. For instance, it seems paradoxical
to declare that the water is a scarce, precious good while we ignore economic policies which favour
efficiency and carry on contaminating and subsidising water without monitoring its use. Only when
these measures have been implemented, when both the resources available and the consumption are
accurately known, and when the possibilities for saving have been explored, can we conclude that
a specific region has not enough water. Moreover, if we really want to be sustainable, we cannot
authorise new uses which are not duly justified.
One of the greatest historians ever, Edward Gibbon, did his best to explain and understand how
a unique culture like that of the Roman Empire could collapse as it did. Six long volumes, to which
he dedicated nearly twenty years of his life, shape his work “The History of the Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire”. And the executive summary of his diagnosis is: “what does not evolve, is
decadent.” Society, above all future society, neither can nor must permit a decadent water policy,
no matter how ‘brilliant’ it might have been.

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 24 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

6 CONCLUSION

Water policy has some formidable challenges to face. Among them stand out betting no longer on
the short term and thinking more about the coming generations. After all, in most cases throughout
the 20th century, the lack of perspective has prevented the adoption of the measures which are
really convenient for the future. Once again, we cannot see the wood for the trees.
This chapter in particular – and this book in general – seeks to provide the reader with the
perspective needed to help identify the adequate strategies for us to start walking on the path that
leads to sustainability. Insofar as we can contribute to that, even if it is very modestly, we will value
as useful the remarkable effort made to allow this book to see the light at last.

REFERENCES

Allan, J.A. (2003) Virtual water – the water, food, and trade nexus. Useful concept or misleading metaphor?
IWRA, Water International, 28(1), 4–11.
Armengol, J., Palau, A. & Dolz, J. (2008) Gestión Sostenible de Embalses. Numero Monográfico. Revista
Ingeniería del Agua, 15, 221–267.
Arregui, F., Cabrera Jr, E. & Cobacho, R. (2007) Integrated Water Meter Management. London, IWA
Publishing.
ASCE Task Committee on Hydraulic Engineering Research Advocacy (1996) Environmental hydraulics: new
research directions for the 21st century. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering. ASCE, April, 180–183.
Asmal, K. (2000) Water is a catalyst for peace Remarks by Professor Kader Asmal at the opening session.
Stockholm Water Symposium Laureate Lecture, August 14, 2000.
Barbera, G. (1983) Leonardo e le vie d’aqua. Leonardo a Milano 1482–1982. Comune de Milano.
Beach, L., Hamner, J., Hewitt, J., Kaufman, E., Kurki, A., Oppenheimer, J. & Wolf, A. (2000) Transboundary
Freshwater Dispute Resolution: Theory, Practice and Annotated References. Tokyo and New York, United
Nations University Press.
Bonnnin, J. (1984) L’eau dans l’antiqueté. L’hydraulique avant notre ère. Collection de la Direction des Études
et Recherches d’Electricité de France. Paris, Editions Eyrolles.
Cabezas, F., Cabrera, E. & Morell, I. (2010) Agua y estatutos de autonomía. El caso castellano-manchego.
Valencia, Spain, Asociación Valenciana de Empresarios.
Cabrera, E. & García-Serra, J. (1997) Problemática de los abastecimientos urbanos. Necesidad de su
modernización. Spain, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.
Cabrera, E., Cobacho, R. & Dubois, M. (2004) La problemática de los abastecimientos urbanos Revista de la
Real Academia de Ciencias, 98(2), pp. 271–285.
CEC (California Energy Commission) (2005) California’s water–energy relationship. Energy Policy Report
Proceeding (04-IEPR-01E), November 2005, CEC-700-2005-011-SF.
CEC (Commission of the European Communities) (2007) Addressing the challenge of water scarcity and
droughts in the European Union. COM(2007) 414 final. Brussels.
Chapagain, A.K. & Hoekstra, A.Y. (2004) Water footprints of nations. Volume 1: Main Report. The Netherlands,
UNESCO-IHE, Delft.
CMMAD (Comisión Mundial del Medio Ambiente y del Desarrollo) (1988) Nuestro Futuro Común. Madrid,
Editorial Alianza.
Costa J. (1911) Política Hidráulica. Misión social de los riegos en España. Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos
Canales y Puertos. Madrid.
Delgado, J. (2007) Reseña de? ‘Guerra por el agua en el Valle de México? Estudio sobre las relaciones hidráuli-
cas entre el Distrito Federal y El estado de México de Perló Cohen y González Reynoso. Investigaciones
Geográficas, April, 062. UNAM, México DF. pp. 158–163.
Dembskey, E.J. (2009) The Aqueducts of Ancient Rome. PhD University of South Africa.
EC (European Commission) (2010) Options for an EU vision and target for biodiversity beyond 2010. COM
(2010) 4 final. Brussels.
EEA (European Environmental Agency) (2009) Water resources across Europe – confronting water scarcity
and drought. Copenhagen, Denmark, EEA.
Embid, A. & Hölling, M. (2009) Gestión del Agua y Descentralización Política. Conferencia Internacional de
gestión del agua en países federales y semejantes a los federales. Zaragoza, July 2008. Editorial Aranzadi.
Cizur Menor, Navarre.

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Engineering and water management over time. Learning from history 25

FMA (Foro Mundial del Agua) (2006) El agua: Vital liquido para la justicia y la paz. México, Declaración
conjunta de los grupos de fe dirigida al IV Foro Mundial del Agua.
García, E. (1997) La sentencia del conde de Ribagorza para el reparto de las aguas del río Mijares de 20 de
marzo de 1347, Castellón, Junta de Aguas de la Plana.
Gil, A. & Rico, A. (2007) El problema del agua en la Comunidad Valenciana. Spain, Generalitat Valenciana.
Giner Boira V. (1997) El Tribunal de las Aguas de Valencia. Valencia, Spain, Fundación Valencia III Milenio.
Gleick, P.H. (1998) Water and conflict. The World’s Water 1998–1999. Washington, DC, USA, Island Press,
pp. 105–135.
Gleick, P.H. (2009) China and Water. The World’s Water. 2008–2009. Washington, Covelo, London, Island
Press, pp. 79–100.
Hermosilla J. (2006) Las galerías drenantes del sureste de la península Ibérica. Uso tradicional del agua y
sostenibilidad en el Mediterráneo español. Madrid, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente.
Hoekstra A.Y. & Hung, P.Q. (2002) Virtual water trade. A quantification of virtual water flows between nations
in relation to international crop trade. Research Report Series No. 11, IHE Delft, The Netherlands.
IAHR (International Association of Hydraulic and Engineering Research) (2003) Newsletter 4, Vol. 20/2003
(Supplement to JHR – Vol 41 – n 4). Madrid, IAHR Secretariat.
IEEP (Institute for European Environmental Policy) (2009) Environmentally harmful subsidies: Identification
and assessment. Final report for the European Commission’s Environmental DG, November 2009. IEEP
London-Brussels.
Kerisel J. (1999) Le Nil. L’espoir et la colère. De la sagesse à la démesure. Paris, Presses de l’École Nationale
des Ponts et Chaussées.
Martínez, F.J. (1997) La nueva cultura del agua en España. Bilbao, Ed. Bakeaz.
Milly, P.C.D., Betancourt, J., Falkenmark, M., Hirsch, R.M., Kundzewicz, Z.W., Lettenmaier, D.P. &
Stouffer, R.J. (2008) Stationarity is dead: Whither water management? Science, 319(5863), 573–574.
MIMAM, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente (2000) El Libro Blanco del Agua en España. Madrid.
Molle, F. & Berkoff, J. (2006) Cities versus agriculture: Revisiting intersectoral water transfers, potential
gains and conflicts. Comprehensive Assessment Research Report 10. Colombo, Sri Lanka, Comprehensive
Assessment Secretariat.
NAAA (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency) (2009) Growing within limits. A Report to the Global
Assembly 2009 of the Club of Rome. Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), Bilthoven,
The Netherlands, October 2009.
Ostfeld A. (2006) Enhancing water-distribution system security through modeling. Editorial. Journal of Water
Resources Planning and Management, ASCE, July, August, 209–210.
Palaniappan M., Gleick P.H. (2009) Peak Water. The World’s Water 1998–1999. Washington, DC, USA, Island
Press, pp. 1–16.
Pascual, B. (2009) Agricultura y Contaminación de suelos y aguas. XVII Foro Universitario Juan Luis Vives.
Curso 8. Agua Perspectivas de un recurso esencial. España, Ayuntamiento de Valencia.
Perló, M. & González, E. (2005) ¿Guerra por el agua en el valle e México? Estudio sobre las relaciones
hidráulicas entre el Distrito Federal y El estado de México Ed. Mexico DF, UNAM, Coordinación de
humanidades.
Phelps D. (2007) Water and conflict: Historical perspective. Journal of Water Resources Planning and
Management, ASCE, September/October, 382–385.
Plate, E. (1987) Opening address. Hydraulics and Hydraulic Research. IAHR. A Historical Review, In:
Garbrecht, G. (ed.) Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Balkema, p. IX.
Pryor, F.L. (2006) Water stress and water wars. Swarthmore College Report. PA, USA.
Rouse, H. (1987) Hydraulics’ latest golden age. Hydraulics and Hydraulic Research. A Historical Review, In:
Garbrecht, G. (ed.) Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Balkema, pp. 307–314.
Rouse, H. & Ince, S. (1963) History of Hydraulics. New York, Dover Publications.
Sahuquillo, A., Capilla, J., Martínez-Cortina, L. & Sánchez-Vila, X. (2005) Valencia Declaration. Intensive
Use of Groundwater, The Netherlands, Balkema Publishers, pp. 385–386.
Sheer, D.P. (2010) Dysfunctional water management: causes and solutions. Journal of Water Resources
Planning and Management, ASCE, January, February 1–4.
Sieker, H. (2008) SUDS, Green roofs, Rainwater Harvesting, Experiences and Recent Development in
Germany. Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems Training Event. UK, University of Birmingham.
UE (Unión Europea) (2000) Directiva 2000/60/CE del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo de 23 de Octubre
de 2000. Diario Oficial de las Comunidades Europeas, de 22.12.2000.
UE (Unión Europea) (2009) Directiva 2000/60/CE del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo de 23 de Octubre
de 2000. Diario Oficial de las Comunidades Europeas, de 22.12.2000.

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 26 Enrique Cabrera & Francisco Arregui

Viollet, P.L. (2000) Hydraulique dans les civilisations anciennes. Paris, Presses de l’Ecole National des Ponts
et Chaussés.
Viollet, P.L. (2005) Histoire de l’energie hydraulique. Paris, Presses de l’Ecole National des Ponts et Chaussés.
WHO (World Health Organization) (2010) Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water. 2010 Update. Geneva,
Switzerland, WHO Press.
Wildman, L., Klumpp, C., Greimann, B. & MacBroom, J. (2008) Sediment dynamics post dam removal: state
of the science and practice. Proceedings of the World Environmental & Water Resources Congress, 12–16,
May 2008, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
Wolf A.T., Kramer A., Carius A. & Dabelko G.D. (2005) Managing Water Conflict and Cooperation. State of
the World 2005: Redefining Global Security. Washington, DC, USA, World Watch Institute, pp. 80–99.
Worm, B., Barbier E.B., Beaumont, N., Duffy, J.E., Folke, C., Halpern, B.S., Jackson, J.B.C., Lotze, H.K.,
Micheli, F., Palumbi S.R., Sala, E., Selkoe, K.A., Stachowicz, J.J. & Watson, R. (2006) Impacts of
biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. Science, 314, 787–790.

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 Part B
Water engineering and management
through time

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

 CHAPTER 2

Water engineering and management in the early Bronze Age

civilizations

Pierre-Louis Viollet
EDF R&D
Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Clamart, France

1 INTRODUCTION

The paper addresses the question of water management in the BronzeAge civilizations of the Middle
East, Central Asia and the Aegean world, for the period lying between approximately between 4000
BC, and 1100 BC (Egypt is addressed in another paper of the present conference).
Irrigation probably began to develop at a small scale as early as in the Neolithic period, in the
so-called “fertile crescent” – an arc constituted of the hills of Syria-Palestine and the foots of
the Taurus and Zagros mountains –, as well as south-east of the Caspian sea, when agriculture
spread out from its initial Levantine birthland. But the conditions leading to large-scale hydraulic
engineering and water management really appeared when early cultivators settled in the low plain
where the Tigris and Euphrates join. There, towns and cities appeared during the IVth millennium
BC, with the Sumerian and Akkadian civilizations – when writing who also invented. Civilization
development followed in Egypt, in Central Asia, where are the earliest known traces of irrigation
after Mesopotamia, and also in the Indus valley with the Harappean civilization which developed
during approximately 10 centuries from the beginning of the IIIrd millennium. In Crete the Minoan
civilization started from the end of the IIIrd millennium, and ended by 1500 BC, and in continental
Greece there was the Mycenaean civilization during the IInd millennium, until 1100 BC, where it
collapsed with the beginning of the dark ages of Greece. The end of the Bronze Age, by 1200–1100
BC, was marked by a lot of destructions, invasions and troubles, and marked also in a sense the
end of many of the early civilizations1 .
Further civilizations (esp. those of the “classical” period) where their successors and used basi-
cally techniques derived from those of the early civilizations. All these civilizations between the
Aegean sea and central Asia were connected to each other by trade, migration and invasion routes,
and show many common features in water engineering.
The Bronze Age civilizations were highly centralized, at the scale of a city-state, a coun-
try, or an empire, the “palace” controlled the collection and distribution of the main products,
and managed large public works. This came together with their capacity to develop large-scale
water-management technique and works. Among those civilizations, the Sumerian and Akkadian
civilizations of Mesopotamia are particularly outstanding, not only because they can be regarded
as precursors in many aspects – including use and management of water of the two large rivers
Tigris and Euphrates – but also considering the incredible number of texts of all sorts written in
cuneiform symbols, in the Sumerian or Akkadian languages, that they left to us, buried under the
mud and the sand covering the lost cities of Mesopotamia.

1 The cities and palaces all around the Aegean sea were either destructed by fire (Troy, Mycenae, Pylos,
Ugarit. . .), or abandoned, by 1225–1175 BC, after raids of mysterious “people of the sea”, to whom only
Egypt could resist; for a historical discussion of this catastrophe, see Drews (1993).

29

© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
both commissina and contango. 1910 H. Witmkrs Stocks 4 Shares
377 If no charge is m.ide for carrying over, a full cummtsaion is
usually paid when the bargain is finally closed. 4. carrying ohair, a
chnir in which a person is carried ; oanying oharges, the charges
Incident to holding goods for future sale (see *Cabby v. 38 c) ;
carrying-place (eailicr U.S. examples). \99^0uiing\.\}.^) XXIV. 139/3
The Chinese mandarin.. wh«i seatea proudly in his fancy * carrying-
chair. 1905 Westm. Gas. *s Feb. 16/3 The carrying-chair used by Leo
XIII. c 1707 in G. Sheldon Hist. Deerfield (1895) I. 361 At which
time they got to the last *carr) ing place. 1711 ymls. Ho. Repr.,
Mass. 111. so Fifty able Souldiers.. constantly Scouting, .the Rivers,
Ponds, Carrying -places and Hunting Grounds. 17*$ Lanceuter Rec.
340 We .. came to ye carrying-place, where ye Indians carry their
conoes. 1753 Washington Diaries I. ^5 It is iso Miles to thecarnring
Place at the Fall of Lake Erie, ij^ Essex /nst. Hist. Coll. XIX. 143 The
ginorals Horg [ = barge) was., drawn acrost ye Carring Place and put
into Lake Champlnin. Carr3rin^, ///. a. Add : carrying comb Spinning
(see quots.) ; carrying party J///., a party detailed to carry or bring
up supplies. 1868 Patents, Abridgm. Specif, Spinning w. 356 A pulley
carried by a pillar placed within the main circle of 'carrying combs.
1884 W, S. B. M^Laken Spinning (ed. a) ^4 'I'he carrying-comb
carries off" the wool from between its two plates. 1S89 BuRMLF.v
Wool ^ Woolcon/blng afx) The CAtry. ing comb advances in as near
as possible a perpendicular position close to the nipper mouth and
takes off the tuft of fibres. 1884 Milit. Engin. I, 11. 109 A certain
number, .will be told off as 'carrying party. They will be provided with
bags of hay, shavmgs, wool, &c., boarder^-j Nov. 21/2 A very
heavycarry-over of work from the adjournment on December 21 is
inevitable, ashundredsof cases are awaiting trial in th- King's Bench
Division. 19x8 Daily Express 6 Jan. 6 Every session has its carry-
overs, but there seems to be nothing this year to rival the
importance of the Trades Disputes Bill. Carstone (kaust^un). Geol.
[app. =! *carn' stone^ for quam stone, local form of Quekn-stone.]
A species of the Lower Greensand. 181S W. Smith Mem. Map Strata
Eng. tf Wales 43 Iron Sand, or Carstone. i8aa Convbeare & Phillips
Outl. Geol. Eng. Jff Wales 136 Iron Sand. ..We are able to trace and
identify the present series throughout the island. In different
counties it has received the name of Carstone and Quern stone.
1840 Spurdens Suppt. Forhy's Voc. E. Anglia (1858), Car-stone, a
peculiar stone, found principally near Swaffham. 1876 Woodwahd
Geol. Eng. .y Wales 230 The hard beds, locally termed Carstone (or
Quern stone), are worked for building-purposes. i88> Geikie Text-bk.
Geol. 830 The Upper Neocomian 'Car-stone'. 1885 /bid. (ed. 3) £23
The Upper Neocomian sub-stage (Carstone) ranges into Norfolk.
Cart, sb. Add : 4. b. The carapace or upper shell of a crab, coUoq, or
dial. i860 Slang Diet. (ed. a) s,v. Carts^ In Norfolk the cara. pace of
a crab is called a crub cart. 1887 GirVs Ozim Paper 16 July 661/3
Pick the meat from the cart, the breastplate, and the claws. 5. In the
cart : (put or left) behind, in the rear, i. e. in a losing position, slang.
18^ Evening Standard 25 June (Farmer) It was alle^^ that in two
races. .Sir George Chetwynd — to use a vulgarism — had been put
in the cart by his Jockey. 1908 Puttck 12 Feb. 110 We were simply
alt over 'em, and had 'em in the cart in no time. ibid. 4 Nov. 334
Something., tells me I am fairly in the cart. S009 W. S. Maughah
Smith (1914) 13 Emily was left in the cart. 191X W. J. LoCKK
Clementina Wing xxi. 363 Lena Fontaine and Huckaby had put them
in the cart. They were left, they were done, they were stung. 19*4
J. B. Hohbs Cricket Mens. 156 We made 338, which was enough
practically to put South Africa hopelessly in the cart. 6. cart-body
(examples) ; cart-road (earlier U.S, example). c 1315 Gloss. W. de
Bibbestv. in Wright Voc. (1857) 167 Le chartil^ thc*carte body. 1407
in Kennett Par.Autiq. (1818) lI.3i3Et pro snrrattone et
dolationeuniusCartbod>r..vil*J. «779 in Narrag. Hist. Reg. I. 93 Went
to Tower bill for a cart body. X834 W. G. Siums Guy Rivers 414 The
confL-\gration . . destroyed his cart-body and calicoes. 1700 Cat,
I'irginia .St. Papers 1. 72 From thence alonge y« *Cart Kuade until it
comes.. beyonde yu ITrench Ordinery. Cart, V. Add : L To cart off or
away : to carry off or away in a cart ; hence gen. to carry off, take
away, remove. t88i Punch 8 Oct. 166/3 Napier and Havelock might
he leaned off to join the poor Duke of Kent at the top of Portland
Place. S89Z Farmer Slang. O. Anglo-Indian. (See qnot.) 1837 T.
Bacom First /mpr. Hindustan I. 137 Carting a girl, or riding out with
her, ts considered in Indiaas a regular publication of the banns. 4.
trans. To defeat easily in a game or match, slang, (Cf. prec. 5.) 1891
Farmer .S"/a«f. Cartaffa. Add examples of attrib. use : 1901 Daily
Nnvs 24 Jan. o/i The prisoner was doing some cartage work at
Drayton Park. 2903 Daily Chron, 7 Jan, 8/1 A cariage contractor.
Cartel, sb. Add : 3. o. AiXAxG. kartell {auY. cartel OT It, cartelh)\ In
Germany and Austria^ an agreement or association between two or
more business houses for regulating output, fixing prices, etc. ; also,
the houses tlius combined together; a trust or syndicate. i|^ Daily
Chron. 34 May 6/3 He laid stress on the injury which would be done
to the Indian industry if thecouniry were flooded with * Cartel '
sugar. 2903 Pol. Sci. Q. XVI f. 381 'i he cartel, or producers*
syndicate. 190a Westm. Gaz. 34 Nov. lo/i The new cartel includes
practically every important iron and steel Interest in the Dual
Monarchy. i^A BritaitCs /ndustrial Future (Liberal ind. /nquiry) ii. viit.
93 Trusts, cartels, combinations. d. Hist. The combination formed in
1887 between the Conservat i ves and the Nat ional Liberals in
Germany to support each other*s candidates, for the furtherance of
Bismarck's military and imperial policy. Hence as a name for similar
combinations in other countries. 1918 C. G. RoBKRTSON Bismarck
453 The Chancellor's political cartel was complete! it consisted of the
Conservatives, the old National Liberals, and the Centre; and the
union gave him a decisive and obedient majority. 1918 A. W. Waro
Germany III. 125 The entire Cartel, this time with the Centre,
agreed to proceed with the loan. 19*6 Encycl. Brit. II. 94/1 The
Radicals, RadicaU Socialists and Socialists formed a Cartel [France,
1924]. >9»7 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 154 Hence an electoral cartel was
inevitable, and to this the Transylvanians and Tsaranists consented.
1938 Daily Tel. ai Aug. 8/3 The 'cartel* of Republican parties formed
by him [sc. M. Veniselos], 11
The text on this page is estimated to be only 25.15%
accurate

CARTEL. Hence Ca*rtel(l)i8in, the system of (political)

cartels ; Ca'rtel(l)ist, a member or supporter of a cartel ; Cartel
(l)iza*tion, the system of trade cartels ; Ca*rtel(l)lze v. trans. ^ to
combine into a cartel, bring under the control of a cartel.
n^t^Contemp. Rev. June 716 Hitherto textiles were not regarded as
favouraUe fields for cartelisation. XQ35 Glasg82x J. Fowler 7rnl. 44
The Hunters killed two deer, [and] Cased the Skins for Baggs. 1900
Shithwicx Evol. State 17B The vessels for carrying water were made
of deer skins cased— stripped off whole — the legs and necks tied
tightly with sinews. Casease (k?-s«|^is). Ciem. [f. Casein: see *-
ASE.] A proteolytic ferment formed by certain bacteiia, capable of
decomposing the casein of milk and cheese. 1899 J. R. Green
Soluble Ferments 218, Caseate (k^'-s»>it), v. Pathol, [f. L. cdseus
cheese + -ate 3.] intr. To undergo caseons degeneration. See
Caseatiok b. 1873 T. H. Green Introd. Pathol, (ed. 2) 79 In.. fatty
degeneration.. subsequent changes invariably take place; the part
either softening, caseating, or becoming the seat of calcifiouion
itself. 1907 Practitioner Dec 737 If the appendix is subsequently
removed, you may find a caseating centre near it. 19x0 Ibid. June
743 Caseated glands. Casement. Add : 1. b. The matrix cut in stone
to receive a monumental brass. 1454 in Dugdale Antig. IVurwicksA.
(1656) 354/1 Either of the said long plates for writing shall be in
bredth to fill justly the casements provided therefore. 1890 J. T.
Fowler in Prvc Sac. Antig. XIII. 34 note. It has been proposed to
reviv* ' casement ', an equally good word at one time in use. J891
W. H. St. John Hope Ibid. 213 Beneath the figure is the casement of
the inscription. 1903 Vorks. ArchaeoL Jml. 307 The top slab with the
casement of the brass taken up and inserted m the north wall 5.
casement cloth, a cotton cloth used primarily for casement curtains,
but also as a dress material, etc. ; so casement fabric, which is of
wider application ; casement curtain, a curtain of the kind made to
fit a casement window (see sense 2). 1908 Home Chat 6 June 572/2
Linen, or
The text on this page is estimated to be only 16.09%
accurate

CASH. 163 CASSOLETTE. desk or connting- house and the

several counters ; cash-price (early example) ; cash register, orig,
U.S,t a till furnished with an apparatus which visibly records the
amounts put into it; cash-sale (examples); cash-store, orig, l/.S,^ a
store in which credit is not given. tTJo Carroll Papers m Maryland
Hist, Mag, XII. 295 Do not give y'seif the Trouble of sending me an
Extract of jr» "Cash Ace*. 1771 Ibid, XIV. 36^, I have a Regular
Cash Ace' in an old Book Here. 1835 Southern Lit. Messenger I. 339
But a man was a *cash article there. 1889 Century DicLy
*Cashcarrier. 190s Btdgs. Worlds Columbian Expos, a/i The
Transportation exhibits . . range . . from a •cash conveyor to a
balloon, a 1906*0. Henkv' Trimmed Lamp etc 78, I wa<: a=""
and="" wrapper="" then="" shop="" girl="" cat.="" virginia=""
st.="" papers="" i.="" he="" articles="" were="" furnished="" at=""
prices.="" casselfs="" family="" mag="" the="" register=""
which="" is="" represented="" in="" woodcut="" only="" twelve=""
inches="" height.="" h.="" s.="" harrison="" qveed="" v="" was=""
as="" definite="" an="" adding="" machine="" practical="" cash=""
register.="" u.="" browm="" jrhl.="" maryland="" hist.="" mag.=""
xl="" advises="" me="" to="" sell="" whole="" of="" clement=""
hrooks="" property="" for="" or="" sale.="" colman="" rep.=""
agric.="" mass.="" same="" time="" we="" are="" always=""
sure="" tourcke="" foots="" arr="" plantation="" would=""
never="" have="" brought="" that="" price="" r.="" d.saunders=""
col.="" todkunter="" viii.="" quit="" setttn="" there="" lookin=""
like="" poor="" man="" pat="" cltroit="" gotfut="" honourable=""
pclcg="" pe-hell="" keeper="" pe="" ibid.="" passing=""
unanimous="" resolution="" not="" buy="" anything="" his=""
cash-store.="" willis="" rural="" lett="" xviii.="" yoa="" do=""
injustice="" stores="" oswego.="" b.="" applied="" adject=""
ively="" commodities="" purchasable="" tradesmen=""
commercial="" houses="" doing="" business="" ready="" money=""
only.="" cc="" cash-article="" sau="" etc="" al="">ove. 1898 Daily
News 15 June 6/2 Mr. Armour to-day bought all .Mr. Leiter's cosh
wheat in the north-west. 1903 DaUy Ckrom. 7 Apr. 5/2 Cash
Dispensing Chemists. Cash (kaej"), sb.* Anglicized f. Cache s^. 1835
N. Wteth yrnl. 336 Camped - . just above the mouth of the Utalla
where I have a caah of traps. Gash, r.2 Add: 2. l/.S. Ca«h in, to
settle accounts in the game of poker; hence in gcnenil use, to clear
accounts ; to close up a matter. (Sometimes trans, with chtcks as
object.) 1S89 Kansas Ti lilts fr Star ao &far.. The market valoe now
IS about I1.700 a front foot, and many members favor * cashing in '
at kuch a fancy price, and building elsewhere. 1891 [see below).
1896 G. Adk Artie v. 46 If you're struck • on him 1*11 cash in xv^K
here and drop out of the game. SS99 — Doc Home xxL 333, 1 lost
back the 83,500 and cashed in. a 1904 S. E. Whitk Rlased Trail
Storin xU. 334 By all the rules of the game, Peter should have failed
long since, sboukl have 'cashed in and quit* some five yvats back.
^•A?' To ' district of outcast London, is lo be found wherever the
poor of the great city most do congregate. Ibid.f Cas'alty labourers.
s89a Tewnyson Churck-.vf, ^ Curate i. Nasty, casselty weather \
Cassandx^ (ka-sscndr^). [L. Cassandra^ Or, KaG{a)avhpji.'] A
daughter of Priam, sought in love by Apollo, who gave her the gift of
prophecy and when she deceived him ordained that no one should
believe her prophecies, though true, 1670 Lassels Voy. Italy Pref. a
x, Other Govemours (Cassandra like] telling their Pupils many
excellent truths, are not believed by them. 1711 Addison Spect. No.
130 F 2 A Cassandra of the [Gypsy] Crew.. told me. That I loved a
pretty Maid in a Corner. 1837 CTarlyle Fr. Rev. II. I. ii, A Cassandra-
Marat cannot do it. 1874 W. K, Greg {title) Rocks ahead; or, the
warnings of (Jassandra. Ibid. I The part of Cassandra can never be a
pleasant one for any man to play. It makes others uncomfortable
and himself unpopular. 1901 N. Aiiier. Rev. Feb. 336 Far be from me
the Cassandra task of attempting to persuade my countrymen that
an army of any given size is a necessity for the Republic. 1926
Chestekion Incredulity 0/ Fr. Brown V. 177 t.ady Diana bad recovered
a little from her trance of Cassandra. Hence Cassa'ndrian a. ax876
Eadie Comin. Thess. (1877I 347 Baxter, .accused Grotius of a design
to reconcile Papists and Protestants in a Cassandrian Popery. 1903
H. Begbie in Daily Chroru 28 May 3/7 Remembering the Cassandrian
comparison which has been made between the Transvaal and
Ireland. Casse (kses, II kas). [Fr., vbl. n. f, casser to break.] Incipient
souring of certain wines, accompanied by loss of colour and a
deposit of sediment. 1883 y. Gardner's Breiuer^ Distiller^ etc. 226 If
the Iveakage, or ceuse^ as it is termed, has not exceeded 7 or 8
percent, by the time August is reached, he. .lets the wine remain,
ign Encycl. Brit, XXVIII. 720/r The disease known as toume or casse
is generally caused by the wine having been made, .from grapes
affected by mildew. Cassel (kjE'sel). The name of Cassel (now
Kassel), a town in Germany, used attrib. to designate various
pigments, as Cassel brown, Cassel eartli, a brown prepared from
impure lignite, Vandyke brown ; Cassel gireen, a green consisting
chiefly of barium manganese ; Cassel yelloir, a patent yellow
pigment, i860 Ube Did. Arts (cd. 5) I. 805 Vandyke, Cappah,
Rubens, Cassel, and Cologne Browns. 1875 Sir T, Beaton Fret-
Cutting 105 The brown pigment is well known to artist's colourmen
.ns Casse! earth. t88s Encycl. Brit, XiV. 379/1 Another oxychloride,
PbCl2' 7PhO, known as *-Cassel yellow \ 1885 Ibid. X I X. 88/1
Cassel Green, called also Rosenstiehl's Green, is a fine innocuous
pigment made by melting together sulphate of baryta and oxide of
man* ganese. ..Vandyke brown and Cologne or Cassel brown, peaty
ochres. ..Real Vandyke Brown, .ought to be a kind of bituminous
peaty earth .. allied to which are Cologne and Cassel E.arth.
Casserole. 1. Add : Also h la casserole^ now usually en casserole.
Also attrib, ^ as casseroli cookery, dish, pan. 1870 M. Dubois
Cosvwpol. Cookery % 727 Capon of Caux, roa>ted * ^ la casserole
'. . . Braised or roasted in a stewpan. 1898 Mrs. RoundelCs Pract.
Cookery Bk. 264 Chicken i la Casserole. 1904 C. H. Sxnn {title)
Chafing Dish and Casserole Cookery, 1905 A. Kenmev-Hebbert
Common' sense Cookery 292 A poulet^ or pheasant & la casserole,
1906 FiuppiNi Iiitemat. Cook Bk. 378 Heat one tablespoon butter in
an earthen casserole pan. Ibid, 565 Sweetbreads en Casserole.
Blanch and trim six heart sweetbreads. Place in an earthen casserole
dish [etc.], Cassican (kse'sikan). [f. rood.L. Cassicus + -AN.] Any
oriole of the tropical American genus Cassieus. 1840 Ctnder's Anim.
Kingd, aoa The Cassicans {CetssicuSf Cuv.). i86x Ciuunbers's Encycl.
II. 654/1. Cassie2(kae*s?). U,S, [Fr., ad. Pr.cfl«V? acacia.] The ilowei
-heads of Acacia famesiana. 1905 Yng. Woman Apr. 230/1
Mignonette, and cassie. Cassinese (kaeslnrz), a, and sb. Also
Casinese. [ad. It. Casinese, f. Monte Casino^ near which the earliest
Benedictine monastery was founded : sec -esk.] A. adj. Of or
pertaining to the Benedictines of Monte Casino. B. 5^, A monk of
the monastery founded near Monte Casino, or of any monastery
connected therewith, 1881 B. Wei-don Ckronol. Notes Pref. p: x, The
reigning Pope Julius II gave the name of the Cassinese Congregation
to the whole body of the reformed Benedictines of Italy. 1884 Addis
& Abnolo Catk. Diet. (1897) 82/2 There i^ a monastery at Ramsgate
belonging to the Cassinese branch of the order. 1910 Haile Life Pole
12^ The Benedictines of St. Giustina at Padua— who were beginning
to call themselves Casinese to denote their union with Monte Casino.
Cassinette. (Earlier U.S. example.) 1817 S. R. Brown Western Gaz.q^
The articles manu&c* tureu consist of. .chambrays, cassincts,
sattinets. Cassiri (kaesI»T{'). Also kasiri, aa8iri(e, cassiree, cas8eri(e.
[a. Carib cassiri : see Cassakeep (etym.).] An intoxicating liquor
made in Guiana from sweet potatoes fermented.
i796STKDMAN6"«rx«*x/«I. 393 Another drink called ca«/r« is also
much used by these Indians. 1851 W. H. Brett Indian Missions
Guiana 103 There is another drink made in a more cleanly manner
from potatoes, called Kasiri. 1855 H, G, Daltom Hist. Brit. Guiana 1-
82 They have also another intoxicating beverage, called cassiri. 1879
BoddamWhetha.m Roraima 248 The favourite beverage among the
inhabitants was a disagreeable -looking compound called cassiree.
1904 \V. H. Huijson Green Mansions L 26 More cups of casserie
followed this outburst. Cassolette. Add: 3. A small casserole, an
outer edging of rice of smaller size than the casserole. i8a7 !>. E.
Ude French Cook 401 Mind that the cassolette* are to be quite cold
before you take them out of the mould.
The text on this page is estimated to be only 23.91%
accurate

CASSONE. 1898 Mrs, RoMttdc'irs Praci. Cookery Bk. 195

Scoop out the insides and fill iheni with mince and sauce, after
heating the Cassolettes in the oven. 1905 A. Kenney-Hekbert
Comtnonsense Cooi-ery 177 Potato cassolettes. Cassone (UassJ-n^).
PI. -ni (lu*). [It., aujr. menlative of cassa chest.] A large Italian
coffer, esp. one made to hold the outfit of a bride, often elaborately
carved and decorated. X883 J. W. MoLLETT lUnstr, Diet. Art ^
ArchaeoL 60 Cassone, an Italian chest, richly carved and gilt, and
often decorated with paintings, which frequently lield the trousseau
of a bride. 1904 Studio Sept. 303/2 The collectinc of weddingogr. xii.
97 Sometimes copy is so badly arranged that it is almost impossible
to cast-off accurately... In castiiig-up allowance must be made for
chapterheads, &c. Cast, ppl' rt. 1. Add : Cast shadow, in painting, a
shadow cast by an object within the picture, and serving to bring it
out against the objects behind it. 1B49 J. D. Harding Less. Art liii, In
shading this Lesson care must be taken to make the cast shadow
GHF darker at the points G and F, and also sharp on the ed^e. X89X
tr. Adeline's Art Did. 362/1 The cast shadow is always darker than
the shadow, properly so called, if the body caslirrg the shadow and
the surface receiving it are of the same toiiahty. Castanite
(k.x'stansit). Min. [f. L. castauea chestnut + -ITE^.] A hydrated ferric
sulphate of chestnut-brown colour, found in Chile. 189a Dana S^st.
Min. (ed. 6) 964 Castanite. . . Monoclinic, with a prismatic angle of
82**. Casteless (ka-stles), a. \i. Caste j^. + -les3.] Having no caste
or castes, x886 (in Diet. s. v. Caste sb.], 1898 Daily A'eivs 15 Aug.
6/2 Reformed casteless Hindoos. 1906 Afacm. Mag. July 714 While
heffc:. the Maharajah of 'iravancore] journeyed over the black water
to distant, and to them casteless and almost godless, Britain.
Castellated, ///- a. Add : 1. c. transf. Of a nut or disc : Having
grooves or recesses on its upper face. 1904 A. B. F. Young Complete
Motorist iv. (ed. 2) 73 Castellated nuts are nsed throughout, with
split pins, igaa Times 20 June 8/5 The wheel and consequently the
castellated shaft will be rotated. Caster. Add : 2. b. (E.irlier U.S.
example.) X793 Ship Oiuner's Manual (1795) 141 Many seamen,
keelmen, casters. C, One who takes or makes a model by running
some liquid or forcing a plastic substance into a mould. xgai Diet.
Occup. Terms (1927) § 105 Potters ; ware-makers, Casters and
finishers. Ibid. § 414 Caster, takes plaster cast of foot where any
special form of boot is required, as in case of malformation, etc. d.
(See quot.) K9S1 Diet. Occup. Terms (1927^ § 04^ Caster^
examines coals sent from screens, and removes splints, i.e. slaty
coal, io readiness for ^e as house coat Castice (k^e'stis). Also
castize, castees, castess. [ad. F", castice == Sp. castizo, a. Pg,
casli^o, i. casta Castk.] An inhabitant of the Kast Indies bom of
Portuguese parents. x66a J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 11. 103
iGoa) Those of the third Generation [of the Mestizes] are as black as
the Inhabitants of the Coimtry, which happens also in the fourth
Generation of the Castizes. 1889 Cent. Diet, Casting, vbl. sb. Add : L
esp. Tlie action or process of lounding (metal or glass). 164 C.
Casting of drapery^ the proper disposition of the folds of garments,
in painting and sculpture. (Cf. Cast j;^. 3 7 , v. 47 b and F. jet dune
draperie.) 1842 Francis Diet. Arts, Casting of Draperies. 190. R.
Sturgis Appreciation of Sculpture 25 (Cent. Diet. Suppl.) Note, in the
draped female statues, tlie casting of the drapery. d. In sail-making,
the calculated dimensions and shape of each cloth in a sail. x886
Encycl. Brit. XXI. 154/2 There is got out what is technically termed a
'casting', which simply means the shape, length, &c., of each
individual cloth in the sail. d. In ploughing, the method and
operation of turning all the furrow-slices of a ridge in one .direction,
and those of the adjoining ridge in the opposite direction. 1837 J. F.
RuRKE B7-it. Husb. II, 46 (L.U.K.) It is sometimes desiral)le to throw
two ridges into one.. .This operation is called casting. 1836 Mokton
Cyel. Agric. II. 646/1 The mysteries of 'gathering up', 'rownand
furrow' ploughing, 'casting', 'yoking or coupling' ridges [etc.]. 3. a.
(Earlier U.S. examples.) 1817 S. R. Bkown Western Caz. 112 They
[jt. manufactures] consist of. .castings, nails. 1831 Peck Guide for
Emigrants in. 310 An iron foundry for castings, the only one in the
State. 1841 C. Cist Cincinnati 131 Among the manufactures, .were
castings in brass and iron. 4. casting-ladle, an iron ladle used for
conveying the molten metal into the mould in casting ; casting-
xnachiue, (a) in a blast furnace a machine used in casting metal ;
{b) a machine for founding type ; casting-pit, that part of a foundry
where the moulds are placed and the castings made; casting-plate =
casting-table ; casting-pot, {a) a box in which a stereotyi>e plate is
cast ; {J>) a crucible ; casting-press, an apparatus for subjecting
metal to pressure during the process of casting ; casting-reel, the
reel of a casting-line ; casting sand, black moulding sand that has
been nsed for castings; casting-shop, the place where the operation
of casting metal, etc., is carried out; casting-slab, -table, a table of
polished metal with raised edges which serves as a mould for plate-
glass, x86i Fairbairs Iron 157 No sooner is the mixture of the metals
effected than the *cas ting-ladle is brought under the mouth of the
vessel. xSHo Encycl. Brit. XIII. 345/1 The casting ladle into which
the contents of the converters are emptied. 1899 Chambers's Jml.
25 Nov. 829/2 Pig-iron *casting.machines. 1901 Census Bulletin 216,
28 June 58 (Cent. Diet. Suppl.) The monotype .. consists of two
machines— a perforating device operated by a keyboard, and a
casting-machine, igai Diet. Occup. Terms (1927) § 524 Monotype
caster nttr>/daut.. optraies and adjusts casting machme. 1884 W. H.
Greknwood Steel ^ Iron (ed. 2) 469 In the centre of the (Bessemer]
*casting-pit is fixed a hydraulic crane, zoii Diet. Occup. Terms (1927)
§ 279 Moulder, casting pit . .shapes moulds in sand, in casting pit.
1881 Spons Encycl. Industr. Arts iii. 1061 The impressions are given
by projections on the *ca-.ting-plate, which acts as a mould. 1846
Dodd Brit. Manuf, VI. 60 Tlie *casting-pot, with the mould, ..is
gradually forced down into the molten mass. 1881 Instr. Census
Clerks (1885) 88 Casting Pot Maker. 2874 Knight Diet. Mech., *
Casting-press, one in which metal Is cast under pressure, as in the
car-wheel press. i8^a Niven BHt, Angler's Lexicon 192 The 'Malloch'
^casting reel is used for spinning only. 1849 N. KiNcSLicv Diary 30
Our sugar is black enough for *casting sand. 1871 Daily Ne^vs 2
Jan. 3/5 He was carrying some lead from one part of the yard to the
*casting shop. 1874 Knight Diet. Mech., *Casting-slab. 17*8
Chamdkks Cy^r/. s.v. C/uch means as immediately to convert them
into cast-steel. tSia, 1858 [see Steel sb.^ 1 c]. 18*4 [see Cast ///. a.
81- 184* Penny CycL XXIII. 3/1 The celebrated wootz, or Indian
steel, is caststeel. 1851 Watts tr. Gmelins Nand-bk. Chem. V. 207
Specific gravity., of hardened cast-steel, 7-6578. 1868 Jrnl. Chem.
Soc. XXI. 281 Cast-steel containing less than 0*3 per cent, of carbon
is no longer capable of being hardened. x88o Encycl. Brit. XIII.
356/2 Cast steel products. Casual, a. {sb.) Add : 1. d. Golf. Casual
2vatcr : see quot. 1899. • 1899 Rules of Golf, St. Andrews 7 ' Casual
Water ' shall mean any temporary accumulation of water (whether
caused ,
The text on this page is estimated to be only 19.95%
accurate

CASUALTY. by rainfall or otherwise) which is not one of the

ordinary and recognised hazards of the course. 190a Encycl. Brit.
XXIX. 27/1 Standing as far behind the hazard or casual water as he
may please. 6. b. Showing unconcern or lack of interest (real or
assumed). 1916 Boyd Cable Action Front 105 [SW] answered Toffee,
with an attempt to appear as off-handed and casual and at ease as
his questioner, 19x4 Rose Macaulay Orphan Island xvii. 230 She was
casual and indifferent, but Rosamond.. stood up and said ' Yes *. 9.
Casual labour \ see quot 1923, So casual handy labourer, 1851
Mayhew Lend. Labour II. 248 '2 This mixture of constant and casual
hands is. . a necessary consequence of all trades which depend
upon the seasons... Those who have paid attention to the subject of
dock labour and the subject of casual labour in general. Ibid. 380/1
Greenwich may be looked upon as the first stage or halt for casual
labourers, on their way to London. 1889 C. Booth Li/e ^ Lahourl, 42
In East I.«ndon the largest field for casual labour is at the Docks.
1005 Daily Ckron. 25 July 5/4 He would not admit that the policy of
the guardians had increased the casual labour sj-stem. 1908 H. W.
Caslon Letterprrss Printing 64 Casual labour is, and must be, a
di^tu^bing element in the costing of work. 1913 J. D. Hackett Labor
Terntx in Management Enginetrineyi^y t Casual Labor. 'Unskilled
help, employed and discharged at frequent intervals, and dependent
upon the varying demand of the labor market from day to day,
without any prospect of continuous employment.* (WhaCs Witat in
the Labor Movement ^ Waldo R. Brown, p. 59.) b. Of a soldier
detached from his unit (so c. campy company y etc., composed of
such men), US, iw Pocket Oxf. Diet. (Amer. ed.). B. sb, 3. = casual
labourer, x8si Mavhew Lond, Labour II. 246 1 The 'casuals 'being
mostly paid by the day. /bid. 246/2 Of thescavagers proper there are
.. two distinct orders of workmen, *the regulars and casuals' to
adopt the trade terms. 1887 Beatrick PoTTEK in igth Cent. Oct. 488
The true casual is seldom employed. 1889 C. Booth Ltyk ^ Labour I.
20a The work of the casuals was a dead loss to the contractor.
Casualty. Add : 2. o. used of an individual killed, wounded, or
injured. 1898 W. P. Diiuiv TaH^oie of Archaiiftl 17;? A girls' school
would shoot stniifchter. . . We haven't had a single casualty yet !
1900 W. S. Chubchill Loudon to Ladysi/iith 393 Id spite of more than
a hundred casualties, the advance never checked for an instant.
1916 Boyd Caslr Action Front 144 Such casualties as could walk Inck
walked. 1910 G. K. Rose 2/4th Oxf. ^ liucJks Lt. Infty. 86 Nearly 40
rank and file were casualties. 19*$ E. F, Nobtos bight for Everest^
9(^4 87 With half a dozen porters to wait for our letarn in case
there should be casualties to carry down the glacier. 6. Similarly
casttally hospital, nurse^ sister \ oaaualty insurance (cf. accident
insurance, •Accident s/t. 16); casualtj list, a list of the dead,
wounded, etc in an engagement or campaign; so casualty returns ;
casualty man ^ *C\aVAL sb. ^, 1808 tVatfring + Sea-bathing Places
47 The Casualty Hospital is intended for such anfortunate persona as
suffer by sudden accidents. 1846 United Service Mog. May 127
Casualty Return. 1864 Standing Orders, Dress ReguL AriilUry 73 The
casualty returns being the documents on which the correctness of
Bri*'ade Records mainly depends. Jbid. 173 (in Liear about as long
asever. 190* Encycl. Brit. X\lX. 509/3 Another large class of casualty
insurance applies to various forms of damage to proi>erty. 190a
lyestiu, Cax. lo^une 10/3 Casualty msurance is yet in its infancy.
1907 Ibid. 3 .Apr. 7/j In view of the avowed determination of the fire
offices to go into the casualty business. 191a Shaw Heartbreak
House (1927) p. xxii, The emotional strain, complicated by the
offended economic sense, produced by the casualty lists. 19S6
Warwick Dkepinc Sorrell 4- Son xsXx, 294 He perfurmed three minor
operations, with the., casualty- sister assisting htm with critical and
voiceless composure. Casnistics (kaezifiii'stiks)^ sb,pL [See Casuistic
and -R's.] 1. — Casuistry i. i88r Pop. Set. Monthly Sept. 660 The
question is raised in the casuistics of .Mohammedan ritual, whether
it is right to eat the flesh of the Nesn^ 2. = Ca8DI8TRY 3. 189s
Funk's Stand. Diet. 1903 PhiL Med. frta. 31 Jan. ao3 (Cent. D.
Snppl.)The casuistics of niatignant growths of the abdominal cavity.
Casus belli (k^sife beUi). [f. L. casus Care sb.^ + belli, gea. oi
bellum war.] An occasion of war ; an act justifying or regarded as a
reason for war ; gen. a ground of quarrel. 1853 H. Ckkvillk />/rtO'
32 June (1884) 60 He thought the Russians would soon occupy the
principalities, which, however, the other Powers would not
pronounce to be a casus belli. 1878 Timet 2 Feb. 6/3 He did not say
what was to be the casus b^lli or the casus annandi. Casus foederis
Mc^-^^ f/-den»). |T. L. casus Ca.se sbA ^ fade ris, gen.
o{/aed$islTczty7] A situation or occurrence covered by the provisions
of a treaty or compact, and so requiring the action of the parties
thereto, 1780 J. Adams /-*/. 31 Dec, Wlcs. 1853 VII. 348 These
powers will not be duped by the artifice of the British Court, and
adjudee this war not a casus Jaderis, 1834 H. 165 Grkville Diary 30
July (1883) 16 A quadripartite treaty, of which your person is the
casus feedcris, iB8a Standard 20 Dec. s/ylheTreatyof Alliance with
the Austrian Empire, including those paragraphs. . which define the
special obliga* tions of each contracting party under a casus
foederis. Caswellite (kse-zweUit). Min. [Named after John H. Caswell
of New York: see -ite^.] A micaceous mineral of a copper- red
colour, probably an altered form of biotite. Z894 A. H. Chester in
Trans, X.V. Acotl. Sci. XIII. 49. 1896 J ml. C hem. Soc. LXX. 11. 309
It is supposed that the caswellite has been derived by the local
action of water containing manganese and calcium on this biotite.
Cat, J^.l Add : 4. b. (Earlier U.S. examples.) 1705 Bkveblv Virginia
(1722) 129 Conger-Eels, Perch, and Cat;;. 1760 Washington Diaries
I. 149 Hauld the Sein again, catched 2 or 3 While Fish, .and a great
Number of Cat-;. 1765 J. Bartram Jml. (1769) 6 'Tis full of large fish,
as cats, garr, mullets. 1790 Mossachusetts Sfy 16 Sept. ('l"h.} Perch,
pike, eel, and cats of a monstrous size. 11. b. pi. The salt which
crystallizes round the edge of the pan or beneath the holes in the
bottom of the trough in which salt is put to drain. «886 Cheshire
Gloss., Cats, salt-making term. Afasses of salt formed under a pan
when it leaks. 189a Cortthill Mag, Sept. 365 The * cats ', or salt that
has become encrusted round the edges of the pan, is sent to the
pottery works for glazing pipes and pitchers. 13. To make a cat
laugh : said of something excruciatingly funny. Kot a cat* 5 chance :
no chance whatever, i9DaCuTCUFFE HvNE Mr. Horrocks Purser 100
Crutches by themselves wouldn't have stood acat'schance. 1907 W.
W. Jacobs Short Cruises 330 It would ha' made a cat laugh. 1909
Punch 14 July 26 It's enough to make a cat laugh, 19JW Daily
Express 13 Dec. 16/6 There did not seem a cat s chance for Oxford
on comparative form. 19x8 Ibid, 6 .\ug. 2/5 * Is there any likelihood
of food prices being controlled bythe Government?*.. *By the record
of the existing Government there is not a cat's chance.' 18 and 19.
Cat-and-mouBO Act, nickname for the Prisoners (Temporary
Discharge for Ill-health) Act of 191 3 to enable hunger- strikers to be
released temporarily ; cat-berry, the gooseberry ; catburglar, a
burglar who enters by extraordinarily skilful feats of climbing ; cat-
caatle (see C.VT sb.^ 6 and quot. 1907); cat chain (see quot.) ;
oatfooted a. a) stealthy in movement; {b) (see quot. 1884); oat-
footodness, sure-footedness; cat*shead fern, Aspidium aeuleatum ;
cat(*«)-lick, colloq. expression for a perfunctory manner of washing
oneself; also as vb.; cat-squirrol (earlier examples) ; oat(*8) whisker,
a fine adjustable copper or gold wire in a crystal wireless receiver,
I9«3 Punch 3% July 81/ 1 Plural Residence, which will still be
permitted after the abolition of Plural Voting, is being encouraged by
the * Cat -and- Mouse Act. 1884 .Millar /• /«!«/.«., *Cat. berries,
Kibes Grossularia. 1886 Britten & HoLLMiD Plant'n.t^t, tgoj Daily
Chron. i& Apr. i/7 0win^ to his skill in climbing he was known as '
the 'cat burglar *. io«7 Daily Express 24 Mar. 3/6 A 'cat' burglar
broke into the bouse ..by climbing a stackpipe. 1861 Chambers^s
Encycl. 11.668/ 1 Cat, or *cat-castlf, in the military engineering of
the middle ages, was a kind of movable tower to cover the sappers
as tbey advanced to a besieged place. 1907 CoLUNCwooD in Trans.
CumbLi, 4- iyestmld. Archa^ot. Soc. (N.S.) VUI. too 'Catcastle' 10
local [Kendal) dialect is the second figure in the game of Cat's-
cradle. 1883 Man, Seamanship Boys 195 Q. What is a 'cat chain ? A.
\ chain which is rove through the cat block, and shackled on to the
upper end of ground chain to bring the anchor to cat head. 1998
*Cat-footed Isee Cat sb.^ 17 in Diet.]. t88^ G. Stables Our Friend
the Dcg viL 59 Cat-footed — Having the toes well knuckled up,
making the foot short and round. 1919 W. J, LocKe Jorico 94 He had
the peculiar, sure 'catfootednesA of those who follow the sea. 1880
Louisa A. Mp.RKDirH Tasm. Friends, etc. 220 The 'cat's-hcad fern, .is
full of beauty— the pinnules so exquisitely formed and indented (etc.
J. 1839 Gko. Eliot A, Bede xi, 'ih' men ne'er know whether tha floor's
cleaned or *cat-licked. 189* Leeds Metx. Supf-L la Mar. (E.D.D.)
'i'hah's nobbut gien thisen a cat-lick asteead ov a reight wesh. 1898
Eng. Dial. Diet. t.v. Cat sb.', Ver may cv catlickcd the flooer; ycr
hevn't weshed Iti 1906 W. De Morgan Joseph Vance vii. 65 Anne..
soaped me with a vigour far be>-ond any experience of washine I
had had up to that date. My method had been Cat-licking, she said.
1834 M*Mu«TniK Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. So The *Cat Squirrel
(Sciurus cincretts, Lin.) of America iscinerous above, white beneath.
1855 jNIaynf. Rrio Hunters' Feast xix. The species found in these
woods was the large 'cat-squirrel' (Scinrus cinereus), one of the
noblest of its kind. 1915 A. F. Collins lih, of H^ireless 205 Adjust the
wire until the pointed end presses on the crystal and you will have
what is called a *cnt-whisker detector. 1993 Daily Mail 3^ June 13 A
crysul called * Radiocite ' .. used with a * cats-whisker' contact, and
the pressure necessary is extremely lighL Catf sb,^, variant form of
Kat. 1877 kucycl. Brit. VI. no/? In Arabia the beverage [sc. coflfee]..
only supplanted a preparation from the leaves of the CAt, Celasirus
edu/is. 1904 l/,S. Consular Kep. No. 285. 54Q The cat is a plant
containing a m:tt Diet. Amer. (ed. 2) s.v. Catting, Cata- : see also
Kata-. Catabolic(k2etab(7-lik), a;. Biol. = Kataboltc. 1887 Atheiuxum
7 May 611/3 The interpretation of all the Ehenomena of male^ and
female sex as the outcome of atabolic and anabolic preponderance.
Catabolism (katae'bi'llz'm). Biol. = KataBOLISM. 1889 Burdon-
Sanderson in Nature c6 Sept. 525/1 The words in question,
*anabolism*, which being interpreted means winding up, and '
catabolism *, running down, are the creation of Dr. Gaskell. Prof.
Hering's equivalents for these are * assimilation ', which, of course,
means storage of oxygen and oxidizable m.iterial, and '
disassimilaiion ', discharge of these in the altered form of carbon
dioxide and water. Catabothron: see Katabothbon. Cataclastic
(ksetaklsestik), a, Geol. [f. Gr. KUTa/fAaCTToy, f. Kara down +
«Aa<7Tos, f, K\av to break.] Designating a structural character due
to intense crushing. 1896 J. W. JuDD The Studenfs Lyell 560 ^^any
metamorphic rocks exhibit a similar ' cataclastic ' structure. 1903
Geikie Text bk. Geol. (ed. 4) 421 When the temperature is 300* C.
or 400* C. no cataclastic structure is observable. Cataclysmically
(ksetakll^zmikali), adv, [f. Cataclysmic: see -ically.] By a cataclysm. _
1889 I. Taylor Aryans iii. 132 The civilization .. was not introduced
cataclysmically, by the immigration ofa new race. Cat-a-comered,
variant of cater-cortured (see Cater adv^, 190a S. E. White Blazed
Trail \i\. 53 When the log had been cat-a-cornered from its bed, the
chain was fastened (etcl. 1906 Harfier*s Mag. July 252 'You do leave
things so catacornered,' Martha observed. Cataded, -did, obs. ff.
Katydid, i8a9 T. yi.\>iT George Mason 11 Ihe measured creaking of
ihe crickets and catadeds. 1839-33 J. P. Kennedy Su>a/lo:v B. I.
xxviii. 311 The littlecatadid pierced the air with his shrill music
Catagenesis (ka?tad5e*nesis). [See Cata- and Genesis.]
Ketrogressive evolnjtion. 1887 E. D. Cope Orig. Fittest 434 'Ihe
process of creation by the relrograde metamorphosis of energy, or,
what is the same thing, by the specialization of enert^y, may be
called eatage/tcsis, 1900 B. D. Jackson Gloss. Bot. Terms, Hence
Catagenetlo (kteaad.^eiienik) a., of the nature of retrogressive
evolution. 1896 E. D. Cope Org. Evol. 48a If the tendency of the
catagenetic energies is away from vital phenomena. Catalan. Add :
so Catalan furnace^ hearlh,€tc. 1861 Faihbairn Iron 41 The
disposition of the Catalan hearth during the proccssof reduction.
1867 Bloxa:^! Chew, 321 In the Pyrenees, where the Catalan
process is employed. 1874 Knigm 1 Diet. Mcch., Catalanfurnace^ a
blast-furnace for reducing iron ores, extensively used in the North of
Spain. Catalanist (kse-t&Isenist). [f. Catalans- 1ST.] One who favours
the independence of Catalonia; usually alli ib, or as adj. So
Oa'talanism. 1905 Daily Ckron, 23 Sept. 5/3 The Catalanist Agitation.
1907 l^estm. (>az. 25 May a/i The 'Catalanist Home RuU-rs. 1933
Glasgovu Herald 8 Oct. 9 The suspension of ..more or less seditious
Catalanist journals. 1930 S. or Madariaga Sf>ain xviii. 304
Catalanism is, above all, a Barcelona affair. Catalase (k3e*taU^s).
Chem, Also katalase. [f. Catal(ysi8 + *-ASK.] An enzyme capable of
decon>posinrit. Med. Jml. so Aug. 28 Yeast contains.. nuclein,
zymase, etidotrypsin, and katalase. CatalectiCf a. Add : Often in
postposition in imitation of L. b. sb, A catalectic line or verse. 1635
B. JONSON Staple of News iv. iv, Pentameters, Hexameters,
Caialecticks. 1843 /'^w/zyO'c/. XXIV. aa8/i. 1887 Goodwin 6"^.
Cram, \ 293 The tetrameter catalectic
CatalecticantCksetale'ktikaent). Math, (See quots. 1S53, 1S60.) So
Catale'ctio
The text on this page is estimated to be only 23.27%
accurate

CATALO. 166 CATCH. no other catalexis. 1898 Saintsbury

Short Hist. Engl. Lit. II. iiu (1900) 77 Halidon is told [by Minot] in
octave eights admitting catalexis. \^\ Edin. Rev. Apr. 331 lotroducing
furtlier variety by the frequent use of catalexis. 2. A catalectic verse
or line. 1850 Mure Lit. Greece III. 55 The combination of a single
short verse or 'catalexis* with one or more longer verses. Catalo
(kjetal^). U.S. Also cattalo, cattelo. [f. Cat{^tle + Buff)alo.] a cross
between the male buffalo and the domesticated cow. a 1889 C. J.
Tones in H . Inman Buffalo Jmies* Forty Years o/Adz'. 243 To these
cross-breeds I have given the name, * Catalo \ from the first syllable
of cattle and the last three letters of buffalo. 1889 Kansas Times
£ists are of opini
The text on this page is estimated to be only 22.94%
accurate

CATCH. l88l [in Diet]. 1897 Encycl. S^rt I. 345/. Caught md

Bowled, caught by the liowler who delivered the ball. 19x4 I B.
HoBas Crickit iltm. 169 Then Mr. Sinams got rid of WooUcy with a
magnificent ' caught and bowled *. d. Baseball. i»74 Chadwick Base
Ball Man. 88 There be was when Mills was caught out on the fly.
1896 R. G. Kkowles & MoRTOM Baseball y^ J voa\d. have t»eant
'caught out*. 1901 Encycl. Btit. X.KVI. 160/2 In base-ball if the ball
is knocked in a certain direction it is called a foul, and the player
who knocked it has not the privilege of making a run, but may be
caught out. e. intr. I'o act as catcher in the eame of baseball. 1890
Will Cahleton City Legends yt ' An' will yon pitdi or catch? ' Says I, '
111 catch, if so desired '. 38. b. CcUckas-catch-can, the Lancashire
style of wrestling. Also altrib. itSg W. Armstrong Wrestling Introd. p.
xiv, In 1871, the late Mr. J. G. Chambcis. some time editor of Land
and Water, endeavoured to introduce and promote a new system of
wrestling at the Lillie Bridge Grounds, West Brompton, which he
denominated, ''liie Catch.a-i.catchpeed is changed. stM DmelyNems
7 Llet 7/7 That 'catch point* should be more clearly indicated. 1898
lbi.t. 14 Mar. «/» It cut 'i'^vv'i.""''','^'";' •■** ^^^ »«°I»- '93tem
has necessitated the introduction of. . torpedo catchers 189s Miii.
Proc. Inst. CtrilEng. CXXI I. 5" The. .torpedo-boat catchers as they
were then (1886) ^led— -er», and the scouu. I9a5 Blachw. Mag.
Aug. 208/1 These catchers are most efficient little ve^sel^ last,
handy, perfectly equipped. Cateh-hold. Wrestling, [t phr. to catch
hold: see Catch v. 45.] (.See qnot. 1889.) 1883 Encycl Brit. XXIV.
690/2 The 'citch hold, first down to lose' style of wrestling. 1889 W.
Armstrong tyitstlinjg 34 The catch-hoM fashion is a most rational
style of wrestling, as the competitors are., at liberty to catch each
other as they please, .provided they do not hold by the legs or
clothes 1898 Encycl. Sfort II. 546/1 A style 00 the catch hold
pnnciplc. Ca°tchineBa. [f. Catchy o.] The quality of being catcliy. .
'H* Century M„f. .Mar. 773 In spite of its dangerously instantaneous
catchiness, it [sc. an c'tudej expresses just the sentiment of AalUry
in all its shades. Catching, vbl. sb. Add : o. altrib. 1874 KNicHr7>i<:
mech.="" a="" crochet-hook.="" or="" aniraal-catching="" hook.=""
hardy="" madding="" k="" was="" formed="" in="" which=""
three="" four="" sheep="" were="" continuously="" krpt=""
ready="" for="" the="" shearers="" to="" seize="" without="">ss
of time. 1804 A. Robcrt. son Ni • ...... T-. SS^** 'tf" -^"'A'm in
hbr^'ule/. A^^/'^/'iir*. ' l?, i *■••••'• "I acres of water mead'>w on
the ridge or bed gntaa, and about loi on what is termed catch-work.
1844 B. STErMtNS Bh. I- arm III. 1022 Catch-work irrigatioo. b.
catch-cry ; catch title, an abbreviated title sufficiently expressive of
the full title to identify the book. ' S9M Daily Chroiu ao Kor. 4/5 Some
very sound remarks ;■.?* "'H"" .n = Cat-caj-l sb. 2. 1898 Marc;.
Delano Old Chester Tales 53 The audience came stamping and
scuffing in,.. and much loud, goodnatured raillery, and some cat-
cries. Catdom (kae-tdsm). [f. Cat fi!.l -f-DOM.] The condition or
(duality of cats ; the world of cats. 1888 Pnll Mall Gaz. 25 Oct. 3/1 A
charming specimen of caldom in one ' Jimmy.' 1890 lllnstr. t.ond.
Nnvs 10 May S99/3 1 he winning ways of ' catdom ' and '
kittenhcod.' Catechol (k«-tftj;»l). Chem. [f. CATicHD-f -OL.] = pyro-
catechin (s.v. Pyro- 2 b). 1880 yrnL Chim. Soe, XXXVIII. 417 The
author denies the presence of catechol in the \t3ty^o(
Amfelofsishederaeta. 189a Photogr. Ann, II. 87 Catechol in dilute
solution develops slowly, but gives excellent detail and opacity.
Catechu. Add : Also cUlrib. or Comb. : cateCATHABSIS. ohn brown, a
brovm colour produced by the use of catechu as a dye. i860 Ure
Diet. A rts (ed. 5) I. 805 Catechu Brown, rich and transparent. 1880
J. VlmiiK^ Pract. Papermaker ^l Catechu dyed paper.s. 190a Enc,cl.
Brit. XXVIl. 564/t Catechu browns are fast to a variety of influences.
Catechnmenal (kset/kia-menal), a. [f. Catechumen-f-.AL.]
Catechumenical. I '?*^ ?; *-■ Pl"""''S Italian Sculpture Introd. p. liv.
He had laid aside his white catechumenal robes. Catenist (katrnist).
[f. Cate.va -I- -1ST.] A maker of a catena of authorities or evidence.
'**?, ^"^TK Theodore of Mopsiiestia on St. Pauls Et. 1. 240
iheodoret followed his master, without, however, con. descending to
the level of the mere catenist. Catenoid (kie-t/hoid), a. and sb. [f.
Catena + -0IU.] A. adj. Catenary, chain-like. B. sb. Math. The surface
formed by the revolution of a catenary about its axis. '*?* ^'""y^^
^"t. V. 68/2 This catenoid.. is in stable eqiulibiiuin only when the
portion considered is such that the tangents to the catenary at its
extremities intersect be. fore they reach the directrix. 1901 Calkins
Protozoa 156 Such i>seudoconjugation frequently leads to the
formation of catenoid colonies. Cater (k^itsj), ji.s [f. Catebi-.I] The
act or habit of catering. 188S Voice (N. V.) 23 Feb. 3 '2 One of the
many steps in the long continued Republican cater to the beer-
garden. Cater, adv. Add: Cater-oornered (earlier example) ; also
Cater-comerlng a. (See also *CATTY-CORIfEREn.) 1843 Carlton
Ne-.i> Purchase xxvii. 261 With directions how. . to secure by two
.strings diagonally fastened, or as he better understood it—'
kalterkorner'd-like '. 1885 Century Mag. Nov. XXXI. 64/1 He just
takes them records. .and bniigs his side line down catercomerin'—
that way. 1888 J. KiRKLAND McVeys 59 Now, suppose the railroad
runs diagonally across a field, 'cater-cornering ', as he says. Catering
(k^i-tsriij), ///. a. [f. Catee ^l.l-^ -INO i!.] •{ hat caters. »9»3
Glasgow Herald 21 Mar. 11 A large London catering firm. Caterpillar.
Add : 1. b. In (nW caterpillar tractor: A type of tractor which travels
upon two endless steel bands, one on each side of the machine,
each fitting over two cogged wheels, a device which enables the
tractor to travel over vei7 rough ground. Also caterpillar car, etc.
191S Lit. Digest 4 Sept. 467/1 Government road-building throughout
the interior has (javed the way for automobiles, caterpillars and
traclion-engines. i9aa Other Lands July 119/1 It has caterpillars and
motor-ploughs. 1923 Contemp. ^^yl 'I"' **' "^^ arrangement of
'calerpiflar ' traction, with which they were fitted. I9a8 Haakdt &
AutwulNDuBUUlL Black yomrney i. On the 28th of October, 1024, the
eight caterpillar auto trucks left Colomb.Bechar. 6. b. oaterpillar
wheel, a wheel of a heavy vehicle having a broad tread divided into
separate sections for use on rough or uneven ground ; hence
oaterpillar- wheeled a. 1914 lllustr. Lomt. Sews 5 Sept. 369 A
2i.centimetre sieBT-niorUr— with 'caterpillar' wheels, igsa
Westm.Caz. 38 Dec, From In-Salah the caterpillar-wheeled cars will
cross the plateau of Tidikelt. Cat-flsh. Add: Alsoapplied to various
species of fish in Australasia and S. Africa. 1851 J. Hekduson Extnrs.
N. S. W. II. 207 The Cat"i, which I have frequently caught in the
McLeaj-, is fish. . , _ __ ^_ _ a large and very ugly animal' 187I
Cape MoiitlJy Mag. (N.S.) 11. 135 A most horrible creature called a
'catfish', but which ought more properly to have been named ' a sea
devil ', ..as it was all arms and legs, and huge goggleeyed head, itm
T. J. Parkir & Haswell Textbk. Zeol. II. 212 The Cat.fishes (Siluridx).
1900 H. A. Bbvdrn Anim. Africa i(j6 When.. African rivers dry up,
there is nothing left for the CZat-fish but to burrow in the mud. Cat-
foot, V. U.S. [Cat j*.1 -f !• got sb.'\ intr. To walk stealthily or
noiselessly. 1916 H . L. Wilson Someiohere in RedGap iii. 119 Mebbe
it's a BUckhander's camp, I think j so I didn't yell any more. 1 cat.
footed. And in a minute 1 was up close. 19^ Collier's Mag. 10 Nov.
42/2 Tichenor arose and nonchalantly catfooted down the field for a
deceitful touchdown. Cathar (kse-)iii). Also -are. [ad. med.L.
Cathari.'] = Cathakan. Also adj. 1637 (see Catharan]. 1907 Cath.
Encycl. I. 557/1 The Catfiares and the Patarines. tm F. J. E. Kabv
Hist. Chr. Lai. Poetry xiii. 416 Based like the Catbar and Waldensian
[religions), on poverty and renunciation. Catharsis. Add : (also
katharsis) : b. The purification of the emotions by vicarious
experience, esp. through the drama (in reference to Aristotle's
Poetics 6). Also more widely. 1904 Dowden Broutning 289
Balaustion, stricken at heart, fei feels that this tragedy of Athens
brings the tragic atharsis. 19S4 L. Coopf.r Aristotelian Tlieory Com.
180 Ari.stotle.. would recognize some sort of catharsis, and the
resultant pleasure, to be the proper end of comedy. 19S4 Selbik
Psychol. Relig. 159 There may.. be cases where experiences of this
kind produce a moral catharsis which has good results. C.
I'sychotherapy. The process of relieving an abnormal excitement by
re-establishing the association of the emotion with the memory or
idea of the event which was the first cause of it, and of eliminating it
by ' abreaction '. 1918 Webster Addenda,
The text on this page is estimated to be only 23.14%
accurate

CAT-HAITIi. Ca-t-hanl, J^. U.S, [Cat j^^.l 17.] (Seeqoot.)

Also Ca't-haul v. trans, y to subject to this punishment ; Jig. to
examine stringently. 1816 ' A. Singleton * l.elt.fr. South e*ksis).
Psychol, [a, Gr, Kde^^is holding, retention ; intended as a rendering
of G. besetzung (Freud).] The concentration or accumulation of
mental energy in a particular channel. I9SI Strachev tr. Freud's
Group Psychol. 48 Dread in an individual is provoked ejiher by the
greatness of a danger or by the cessation of emotional ties (libidinal
cathexes [orig. Libidobesetzungen^), X9a3 E. Jones in Intertiat. y7-
nl. Psycho^Aualysis IV. 299 In hetero-suggestion. .a hypercathexis
of the idea of the operator is correlated with a hypo-cathexis of all
ideas in conflict with his. Ibid. 302 The intense concentration of
attention (which Abraham terms Besetzung^ i.e. cathexis) or self-
absorption.. is exclusively concerned with the.. conscious sexual
phantasy. Cathisma (kaj^izma). PL oathiflmata. [a. Gr. xaBia^a seat,
f. wara down + X^tiv to sit.] In the Greek Church : A portion of the
psalter, containing from three to eleven psalras. Also, a short hymn
used as a response. 1850 J. M. Nkale Holy Eastern Ch. i. 844 The
Greeks rarely sit in church : the cathismataare tlierefore pauses for
rest; and are longer than the tisiial troparia. 1880 EncycL Brit. XII.
580/1 In various parts of the services solitary troparia are sung,
under various names, * coniacion *, *cecos , 'cathLsma ',
&cCathode. Add: O. altrib. and Comb. : cathode dark space, in a
vacuum tube traversed by an electric discharge, the dark space
immediately surrounding the cathode and separating it from the
negative glow; also called cathodic dark space, Ceookbs dark space ;
cathode photograph, photography, = *CathoDOGRAPH,
♦Cathodographt ; cathode rays, rays issuing from the cathode of a
vacuum tube having a very high vacuum when an electric discharge
takes place, moving at very high velocities in straight lines unles.s
deflected by a magnetic or electric field, and producing X rays by
contact with an obstruction. J9» Difrcovery }\x\y 217/1 The dark
space around the negative pole, which has since been referred to as
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebookname.com