Water and Human Social Organization

Paper Summary:

This paper stresses that there is a direct relationship between the distribution of fresh water and human settlement patters. The author points out that the relationship has existed in the Americas following European colonization. The paper relates the impact of the fur trade and the manner in which settlements engineer the existing water resources to support continued growth.

From the Paper:

"Few can deny that there is a direct relationship between the distribution of fresh water and human settlement patters. Cities tend to spring up near rivers and seas, places where commerce and access to drinking water is abundant. However, less well understood is the effect that human settlement patters and commerce have on those same water supplies. Too often, human civilization perceives water as an inexhaustible resource. After all, it falls from the sky. It's taken for granted that if surface water is not abundant then engineering efforts can make it available in order to support continued growth. Unfortunately, the effect that this attitude has on water resources and the environment in general can be devastating and possibly irrevocable."

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