Water History Flowing Away

by Maurits Ertsen*

Wednesday June 24 2020 was a nice day. Representatives from the Global Network of Water Museums, the LDE Center for Global Heritage and Development, and the International Water History Association engaged in an online discussion on water heritage. Starting from the idea that the importance of water for humankind has never been doubted --  that water has long featured in many societal domains, from policy development to engineering, and from archaeology to the natural sciences and the creative arts --  the organizers of the debate suggested two parallel observations: 

1.     The importance of sharing knowledge of the multiple facets of water with societies through dedicated water museums has grown. 

2.     The attention paid to water-related heritage, tangible and intangible, by scholars and practitioners (and policy-makers?),  has increased. 

Obviously, water museums do much more than heritage display and/or management. They bring history and science alive. The way they do this differs: some museums are built around physical water infrastructure and/or entities (canals, rivers), others tell a story (floods, cultural manifestations). Some are in one location, some are set in the digital world with storytelling and multi-media, some are networks linking existing artefacts and activities. These different ways might allow us to find better, more just, and sustainable water futures.

June 24 2020 was also a sad day, as it would have been the first day of a small face-to-face conference on water history. Worldwide concern about the COVID-19 virus forced the cancellation of this  water history meeting (along with many others). Instead of postponing the meeting, and given the sense (at the time of the decision) that the regular IWHA water history meeting in July 2021 would be something to look forward to, the organizers decided to go virtual. The virtual session on water heritage and museums was the first of a series of online sessions that will be continued in the fall. The program is being made now. The journal Water History called on those who had to miss the water history and ASEH meetings to submit their conference paper as a short regular article – and the submissions received after that call are being processed as we speak.

 These efforts to keep water history afloat  – obviously, but not less crucially – lead to further questions: 

What counts as water?– When there are discussions about showing and/or preserving “water”, one immediately encounters the question, what does this “water” entail? In heritage, it is rather clear that it is not to so much the fluid that is preserved, but the artefacts that guide its flow – sluices, canals, pipes, etc. – and the intangible heritage in the shape of stories, traditions and narratives that surround it. Museums are better equipped to show the fluid itself, but also rely on artefacts to do so. Intangible aspects, like stories and histories of water, need to be shown or projected, as much as the fluid itself needs guidance with material arrangements. 

How do we deal with change?– One of the major challenges for water museums is to keep their collections and exhibitions both stable and up-to-date (relevant). Visitors are attracted by clear communication on what a museum or exhibition entails, and yet, museums know that what they offer is a part of a permanently moving outside world. In water heritage, the artefacts that need preserving are more often than not part of, or at the centre of, a water system that is still functioning. Stories about water may need to alter, as new ideas about the fluid develop or societal needs for stories  change. The system may be in need of preservation, but must be renewed regularly as well. Heritage status might hamper innovation.

The different ways we need to arrange our shared interest in water history bring  up similar questions. What counts as water history in a virtual world? How does one keep focus in times of dispersed spatial presence? How do we use the new fluidity that Zoom or Teams offer to keep the community of water historians intact and growing? How do we deal with change? The water history and the water history community that need preserving are part of larger networks that are also still functioning – or trying to do so. The way we share is in need for preservation, but it must be renewed as well. Heritage status for water history meetings – as in we want to keep them – might be perfectly ok, but it might hamper innovation.

*Maurits Ertsen is an Associate Professor within the Water Resources Management group of Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands and a Member of the ICEHO Board of Directors. This is the second in a planned series of reviews by ICEHO Board Members and others.