Many agricultural production areas worldwide are characterized by high variability of water supply conditions, or simply lack of water, creating a dependence on irrigation since Neolithic times. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the evolution of irrigation of agricultural lands worldwide, based on bibliographical research focusing on ancient water management techniques and ingenious irrigation practices and their associated land management practices. In ancient Egypt, regular flooding by the Nile River meant that early agriculture probably consisted of planting seeds in soils that had been recently covered and fertilized with floodwater and silt deposits. On the other hand, in arid and semi-arid regions farmers made use of perennial springs and seasonal runoff under circumstances altogether different from the river civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and early dynasties in China. We review irrigation practices in all major irrigation regions through the centuries. Emphasis is given to the Bronze Age civilizations (Minoans, Egyptians, and Indus valley), pre-Columbian, civilizations from the historic times (e.g., Chinese, Hellenic, and Roman), late-Columbians (e.g., Aztecs and Incas) and Byzantines, as well as to Ottomans and Arabs. The implications and impacts of irrigation techniques on modern management of water resources, as well as on irrigated agriculture, are also considered and discussed. Finally, some current major agricultural water management challenges are outlined, concluding that ancient practices could be adapted to cope with present challenges in irrigated agriculture for increasing productivity and sustainability.

Agricultural developments require changes in land surface and subsurface hydraulic functions as protection from floods, reclamation of flooded land, irrigation, and drainage. Drainage of agricultural land has a long history and apparently traces back to the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia and Iran before 4000 BC. In the Eastern Mediterranean, the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations developed techniques and strategies of drainage of agricultural lands from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. After the collapse of the Aegean Bronze-age civilizations, society building and agricultural innovation in the archaic and Classical periods (ca. 800–300 BC) included successful attempts at controlling drainage and irrigation techniques. In addition, China, India, and Mesoamerica have extensive histories of drainage. The aim of this review paper is to trace the evolution of the main foundings on agricultural drainage technologies through the centuries until the present. This historical review reveals valuable insights into ancient hydraulic technologies as well as irrigation and drainage management that will help to find bright horizons for sustainable agriculture in future.

Floods are one of the most dangerous natural disasters, causing great destruction, damage, and even fatalities worldwide. Flooding is the phenomenon of a sudden increase or even slow increase in the volume of water in a river or stream bed as the result of several possible factors: heavy or very long precipitation, melting snowpack, strong winds over the water, unusually high tides, tsunamis, or the failure of dams, gages, detention basins, or other structures that hold back water. To gain a better understanding of flooding, it is necessary to examine evidence, search for ancient wisdom, and compare flood-management practices in different regions in a chronological perspective. This study reviews flood events caused by rising sea levels and erratic weather from ancient times to the present. In addition, this review contemplates concerns about future flood challenges and possible countermeasures. Thus, it presents a catalogue of past examples in order to present a point of departure for the study of ancient floods and to learn lessons for preparation for future flood incidents including heavy rainfalls, particularly in urbanized areas. The study results show that ancient societies developed multifaceted technologies to cope with floods and many of them are still usable now and may even represent solutions and measures to counter the changing and increasingly more erratic weather of the present.

Since prehistoric times, water conflicts have occurred as a result of a wide range of tensions and/or violence, which have rarely taken the form of traditional warfare waged over water resources alone. Instead, water has historically been a (re)source of tension and a factor in conflicts that start for other reasons. In some cases, water was used directly as a weapon through its ability to cause damage through deprivation or erosion or water resources of enemy populations and their armies. However, water conflicts, both past and present, arise for several reasons; including territorial disputes, fight for resources, and strategic advantage. The main reasons of water conflicts are usually delimitation of boundaries, waterlogging (e.g., dams and lakes), diversion of rivers flow, running water, food, and political distresses. In recent decades, the number of human casualties caused by water conflicts is more than that of natural disasters, indicating the importance of emerging trends on water wars in the world. This paper presents arguments, fights, discourses, and conflicts around water from ancient times to the present. This diachronic survey attempts to provide water governance alternatives for the current and future.

Contaminated water and poor sanitation are associated with disease transmission. Absent, inadequate, or improperly managed water resources and sanitation systems expose individuals to preventable health risks. Billions of people lack access to these basic services today and will remain in this condition for decades to come. As we are usually thinking and talking about water, sanitation and hygiene services have changed. Looking back at the history of water, sanitation, and hygiene can help us understand the challenges and opportunities of these issues and draw lessons to achieve sustainable development in the future. Throughout history, civilizations have successfully experimented with treating water and using it for drinking, sanitation, and agriculture. For example, the Minoan civilizations originally focused on water treatment and cleaning to improve the aesthetic properties of drinking water. During prehistoric times, Minoan and Indus Valley civilizations, dating back to about 2000 BC, were the first to focus on the treatment of water supplies. From the early Minoan period, they relied on rainwater collection. During historic times, Hippocrates was the first to invent and used a water filter in the form of a cloth bag, at about 400 BC, known today as the Hippocrates Sleeve. The Romans perfected existing water technologies on a larger scale and initiated their spread throughout the Empire. Hygiene in ancient Rome was promoted by the famous public baths and toilets, which were supplied with water through widely branched aqueducts that had a high standard of cleanliness for the time and were regularly maintained.

Since ancient times, dams have been built to store water, control rivers, and irrigate agricultural land to meet human needs. By the end of the 19th century, hydroelectric power stations arose and extended the purposes of dams. Today, dams can be seen as part of the renewable energy supply infrastructure. The word dam comes from French and is defined in dictionaries using words like strange, dike, and obstacle. In other words, a dam is a structure that stores water and directs it to the desired location, with a dam being built in front of river valleys. Dams built on rivers serve various purposes such as the supply of drinking water, agricultural irrigation, flood control, the supply of industrial water, power generation, recreation, the movement control of solids, and fisheries. Dams can also be built in a catchment area to capture and store the rainwater in arid and semi-arid areas. Dams can be built from concrete or natural materials such as earth and rock. There are various types of dams: embankment dams (earth-fill dams, rock-fill dams, and rock-fill dams with concrete faces) and rigid dams (gravity dams, rolled compacted concrete dams, arch dams, and buttress dams). A gravity dam is a straight wall of stone masonry or earthen material that can withstand the full force of the water pressure. In other words, the pressure of the water transfers the vertical compressive forces and horizontal shear forces to the foundations beneath the dam. The strength of a gravity dam ultimately depends on its weight and the strength of its foundations. Most dams built in ancient times were constructed as gravity dams. An arch dam, on the other hand, has a convex curved surface that faces the water. The forces generated by the water pressure are transferred to the sides of the structure by horizontal lines. The horizontal, normal, and shear forces resist the weight at the edges. When viewed in a horizontal section, an arch dam has a curved shape. This type of dam can also resist water pressure due to its particular shape that allows the transfer of the forces generated by the stored water to the rock foundations. This article takes a detailed look at hydraulic engineering in dams over the millennia. Lessons should be learned from the successful and unsuccessful applications and operations of dams. Water resource managers, policymakers, and stakeholders can use these lessons to achieve sustainable development goals in times of climate change and water crisis.