The Past, Present, and Future of Water Supplies

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "The Past, Present, and Future of Water Supplies" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Earth’s population has hit 8 billion people at the same time that our climate is changing. How will governments ensure adequate supplies of clean water while some regions are becoming drier and others are experiencing increased flooding? In this session, we present insights into the past, present, and future of water supplies using archaeological case studies across space and time. Supplying water to populations is often wrapped in local politics, requiring decisions as to who gets water and how much can be taken. Oftentimes the water source is far from the consumption point, requiring control of vast territories to ensure adequate supplies. The storage of water can be essential to a population’s resiliency, but capturing water for future use requires engineering as well as conservation measures. Excessive consumption of water is often a symbol of power and prestige, but it may signal that others are going thirsty. Such lessons can be part of water heritages that teach current and future generations about the dangers of overconsumption.