Abstract

Comparing two large-scale aqueduct projects in California and India, this chapter looks at how political battles have influenced the design of water infrastructure, as well as how water projects have in turn influenced politics. Designed in the nineteenth century by two British colonial officers, these two projects have for the past century been tabled, revived, and fought over. They continue to be used as political footballs, though their colonial origins have been long forgotten. Piper ultimately argues that this kind of outdated water infrastructure needs to be replaced with more environmentally conscious and aesthetic water architecture, but that political inertia keeps this from happening.