“In the 20th century, humanity achieved huge feats of water
engineering, taming wild rivers, redesigning entire watersheds, and
creating farmland from desert. But evidence has begun to mount that
massive manipulations of water are not worth their costs. Huge dams
have destroyed ecosystems and human communities, often waste as much
water as they gather, put countries in unsustainable debt, and inevitably
silt up, becoming useless, often before they have even been paid for.
Other massive schemes have their own problems; desalination plants are
expensive and produce toxic byproducts, while big pumping projects deplete
aquifers.
“Is human ingenuity useless in solving water shortages? Those
who study the issue think there is still hope. The problem may be in
scale; it was the mega-projects that failed. The most exciting solutions
are small. All over the world, engineers, potters, and even children
are coming up with inventions that are cheap, simple, locally attuned,
and sustainable."
