Can An Ancient Water Supply Technology Be Adapted to Sustain the San Pedro River, Arizona?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009: 1:40 p.m. Turquoise I (Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort ) Charles Graf , Arizona Water Institute, Phoenix, AZ This presentation asks the question: can an ancient and dependable technology, heretofore unused in the United States, be employed in a modernized incarnation to provide sustainable flows to the San Pedro River? This technology, called the qanat, passively taps groundwater at the mountain front and conveys it basinward to a point of discharge and use. Qanat technology, which dates to about the 7th century BC, represents a zenith of sustainability engineering. It has provided reliable water supplies to desert areas in Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, and elsewhere for over two millennia. Qanats need no external power source to operate. They provide sustainable water in arid areas otherwise uninhabitable due to lack of surface water. For example, a 2700 year old qanat system in Gonabad, Iran, still supplies water to 40,000 people. In the
