Water is the lifeblood of the American Southwest. It has shaped the region for millennia. The rise and fall of the Anasazi of Mesa Verde and the surrounding region may be almost totally determined by the supply of water. Water engineer Kenneth Wright has been studying water structures at Mesa Verde for a decade, and his research has unveiled dramatic new information about how the ancestral Puebloans ingeniously collected and stored a lot of water.
Fresh from studying the water structures at Peru’s Machu Picchu, Wright was intrigued by the Morefield Mound in Mesa Verde, which turned out to be part of a large reservoir. His studies at the well-known Far View Reservoir proved that this structure was designed to collect water. Until very recently, the National Park Service sign at Far View Reservoir said it could have been a dance area instead of a reservoir. These and other structures in the park show hydraulic technology that allowed the pueblo farmers to extend their occupation for centuries. This book details the interesting research that documents these accomplishments. According to Wright, “They collected and stored water where modern engineers would say there was none.”
