Timeline of irrigation
From Timelines
This is a timeline of irrigation.
Contents
Big picture
| Time period | Development summary |
|---|---|
| Ancient times | Domestic wastewater is used for irrigation by the mesopotamians, Indus valley, and Minoan civilization. Also, wastewater is used for disposal, irrigation, and fertilization purposes by Hellenic civilizations and later by Romans in areas surrounding cities (e.g. Athens and Rome).[1] "Moreover, in China, use of human excreta for fertilizing agricultural crops has been practiced since ancient time."[2][3] Terrace irrigation is developed in pre-Columbian America, early Syria, India and China.[4] |
| 1930s – 1950s | Huge government-sponsored programs are initiated in the United States, Soviet Union, Australia, and Africa to build dams for hydropower, flood control, irrigation, and to encourage settlement and stabilization of sparsely populated frontiers.[5] |
| 1960s – 1970s | Irrigation becomes a key component of the Green Revolution, which stabilizes food production in the developing world. This would provide a new tier of nations the opportunity to turn some of their monetary and human resources to non agricultural avenues of economic and social development.[5] |
| 1980s < | A decrease in the rate of irrigation development makes the rate of increase of worldwide food production to drop in the following decades.[5] |
| Recent years | Approximately 70% of all water abstracted from rivers, lakes and aquifers is used for irrigation.[6] |
Full timeline
| Year | Event type | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holocene epoch (about 10,000 years ago) | The development of agriculture occurs.[7] | ||
| 6000 BC | Early irrigation occurs at about the same time in Egypt and Mesopotamia using the water of the flooding Nile or Tigris/Euphrates rivers. The flood waters, occurring from July through December, would be diverted to fields for 40 to 60 days, being further drained back into the river at the right moment in the growing cycle.[8] | Egypt, Irak, Iran | |
| 3200 BC – 1300 BC | Irrigation is developed in the Indus Valley Civilization.[9] | India | |
| 3200 – 1100 BC | Domestic wastewater is used for irrigation by civilizations in the Mesopotamia, Indus valley, and the Minoan civilization.[10] | ||
| 3100 BC | Early pictorial representation of irrigation appears in Egypt.[5] | Egypt | |
| 2500 BC | In Egypt, copper pipes are used for irrigation.[9] | Egypt | |
| 2000 BC – 1000 BC | In sub-Saharan Africa, irrigation reaches the Niger River region cultures and civilizations. Irrigation is based on wet season flooding and water harvesting.[4] | ||
| 800 BC | The Qanats are developed in ancient Persia. These are considered among the oldest known irrigation methods still in use today.[4] | Iran | |
| 600 BC – 500 BC | In precolumbian Mexico, storage dams are constructed of blocks mortared together. Some of the dams can be classified as arch dams. An improved type of canals is maintained. Different cross-sectional areas are used, and some were lined with stone slabs. During this time, crops are irrigated with carefully controlled water.[7] | Mexico | |
| 474 BC – 367 BC | Irrigation works develop in the reign of Pandukabhaya of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, and would remain under continuous development for the next thousand years, becoming one of the most complex irrigation systems of the ancient world.[4] | Sri Lanka | |
| 300 BC | Farming communities in Balochistan, and Kutch, India, use rainwater harvesting for agriculture and many other uses. | ||
| 256 BC | The Dujiangyan Irrigation System is built in Sichuan, China to irrigate an enormous area of farmland that today still supplies water.[4] | China | |
| 1500 | In Hama, Syria, there are a series of water driven wheels of various diameters, that lifts the river water to an aqueduct at a higher level for drinking and irrigation purposes.[11] | Syria | |
| 1847 | Early modern irrigation technology is developed in the Mormon settlement of the Utah Great Salt Lake Basin, with an eventual cultivation of nearly 2.5 million hectares irrigated across the inter-mountain western United States by the turnof the century.[5] | United States | |
| 1918 | The Soviet government decides that the two rivers that feed the Aral Sea, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, would be diverted to irrigate crops of cotton, melons, and citrus in the deserts of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. This would be the turning point towards the dissapearance of the Aral Sea.[12] | Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan | |
| 1935 | "In September, President Franklin D. Roosevelt speaks at the dedication of Hoover Dam, which sits astride the Colorado River in Black Canyon, Nevada. Five years in construction, the dam ends destructive flooding in the lower canyon; provides water for irrigation and municipal water supplies for Nevada, Arizona, and California; and generates electricity for Las Vegas and most of Southern California."[13] | ||
| 1950 | Statistics | The worldwide total irrigated area reaches about 94 million ha.[5] | |
| 1970 | Statistics | The worldwide total irrigated area grows to 198 million ha by 1970, up from 94 million ha in 1950.[5] | |
| 1970s | "Aswan High Dam. The Aswan High Dam construction is completed, about 5 kilometers upstream from the original Aswan Dam (1902). Known as Saad el Aali in Arabic, it impounds the waters of the Nile to form Lake Nasser, the world’s third-largest reservoir, with a capacity of 5.97 trillion cubic feet. The project requires the relocation of thousands of people and floods some of Egypt’s monuments and temples, which are later raised. But the new dam controls annual floods along the Nile, supplies water for municipalities and irrigation, and provides Egypt with more than 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electric power every year."[13] | ||
| 1990 | Statistics | The world total irrigated area grows to about 220 million ha.[5] | |
| 1991 (August) | The first phase of the Great Man-Made River, –a network of pipes that supplies water to the Sahara in Libya, is inaugurated. The Great Man-Made River would be described as the world's largest irrigation project.[14] | Lybia | |
| 1996 | Statistics | The world total irrigated area grows to 263 million ha.[5] | |
| 2004 | The construction of the Polavaram Project, –a multi-purpose irrigation project in Andhra Pradesh, India, begins.[15] | India |
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See also
References
- ↑ Tzanakakis, V. E.; Paranychianaki, N. V.; Angelakis, A. N. (1 March 2007). "Soil as a wastewater treatment system: historical development". Water Science and Technology: Water Supply. 7 (1): 67–75. ISSN 1606-9749. doi:10.2166/ws.2007.008.
- ↑ Shuval, H. "Wastewater recycling and reuse as a water source for Mediterranean countries: Hygienic and technological aspects". www.oieau.fr. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
- ↑ Ghneim, Azmi (2010). Wastewater reuse und management in the Middle East and North Africa a case study of Jordan ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). Berlin: Univ.-Verl. der TU. ISBN 3798322686.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Irrigation in Ancient Times". icid.org. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 Sojka, R.E.; Bjorneberg, D.L.; Entry, J.A. "IRRIGATION: AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE" (PDF). Kimberly, Idaho, U.S.A. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ↑ "Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all". un.org. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Irrigation Systems, Ancient". waterencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
- ↑ "Irrigation Timeline". irrigationmuseum.org. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 De Feo, Giovanni; Antoniou, George; Fardin, Hilal Franz; El-Gohary, Fatma; Zheng, Xiao Yun; Reklaityte, Ieva; Butler, David; Yannopoulos, Stavros; Angelakis, Andreas N. "The Historical Development of Sewers Worldwide". doi:10.3390/su6063936. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
- ↑ Angelakis, Andreas N.; Snyder, Shane A. (9 September 2015). "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse: Past, Present, and Future". Water. 7 (9): 4887–4895. doi:10.3390/w7094887.
- ↑ "10 General Water Supply History". essexwatersupply.com. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ "irrigation". nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Water Supply and Distribution Timeline". greatachievements.org. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ↑ "Great Man-Made River (GMR)". britannica.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
- ↑ Patnaik, Santosh. "Polavaram project cost escalates". thehindu.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
