Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
4.5 Water Resources, Political Power and Culture
Environmental history cannot ignore the cultural dimension of water resources.
Throughout several millennia, the representations of water drastically changed,
evolving from a vision in which water was like a treasure, or a tool, given by
divinities to men, to an increasingly anxious point of view, conscious of the mul-
tiple risks associated with water pollution and, more recently of the non-renewable
character of many sources of water and of the value of the biodiversity in water
landscapes.
Water has been a decorative element in cities since Ancient Rome: for centuries,
monumental sculpted fountains in the heart of the urban centers were the norm of
local government. The tradition has been prolonged to our times, like in Atlanta near
the Olympic Park. But the combination of decoration and usefulness could also hide
—
some political goals.
37
Therefore, environmental his-
tory cannot forget the cultural dimension of water: the Roman civilization was
famous for the importance given to the public baths (thermae): water was an object
for evergetism and tourists can still visit Caracalla
and still does some time
—
'
s thermae in Rome, as well as
dozens of public baths in the former
“
Roman world
”
. The Imperial regime in
Ancient Rome was accompanied by the birth of a
, serving the
hygienic needs of the citizens at the same time as being a means of publicity for
the local aristocrats in charge of the water service at their own expense. Use of water
for cleaning bodies
“
water evergetism
”
remained a core value in other civilizations, like in
the Muslim world; while popular baths in Christian Middle Ages cities were pro-
gressively denounced by clerks as places of immorality. During the Middle Ages,
control of water resources and infrastructures related to water
—
and souls
—
such as bridges,
mills, water supply systems, was a stake for rival authorities, for instance ecclesi-
astical institutions and communal councils. On crucial rivers for transportation of
people and goods, boatmen developed particular social and cultural characteristics.
38
A few centuries later, like the Roman emperors, the French king Louis XIV
demonstrated his absolute power partly thanks to the hydraulic system of his gar-
dens at Versailles. The power was expressed through fountains, ornamental pools,
crisscrossing jets and so forth, themselves created by diverting water from a river
and from the surrounding marshes, by installing a complex network of pipes and
large reservoirs. In the same country, in southern towns of the late nineteenth-
century, the municipal councils showed particular attention to the presence of
republican symbols on monumental public fountains. Water participated both in the
beauti
—
cation of the city and in the expression of political messages. At the same
time, the control of water resources for domestic usage came into public hands in
many British and German cities: this was the age of the
.
Western countries were rather an exception at the turn of the twentieth century: few
“
municipal socialism
”
37
For a collection of case-studies outside the Western World, in an environmental politics
perspective, see Baviskar (
2007
).
38
See Rossiaud (
2007
).
