Adaptive Water Management in the American West: Utah Case Studies in Technological Innovations and Community Cooperation

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Past, Present, and Future of Water Supplies" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The western United States has experienced dramatic population growth for the past century and a half and fluctuating water resources even longer. For example, there is increasing evidence that people began diverting water from Utah’s streams and rivers during the Fremont period (ca. AD 1–1300). As early as 2,000 years ago, the Ancestral Puebloans did the same in central and southern Utah. Research within the broader Four Corners Region shows that the introduction of maize agriculture was accompanied by various irrigation techniques at least 3,000 years ago. Still, also that variable water resources impacted settlement patterns and migration for centuries. Though few historical or archaeological studies of Utah’s water management, the evidence suggests that residents have long harvested water, developed adaptive water management strategies, and created technological innovations to ensure access to water sources. Drawing on case studies that preserve past irrigation systems, we examine the changing use and construction of water infrastructure over time that inform on community-water dynamics. Within this comparative approach, we identify salient components of ancient and historic water infrastructures that enabled sustainable water management in arid regions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Past, Present, and Future of Water Supplies   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39990.0