Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate uses sacred money to divert a stream to Jerusalem, Israel. The Jews are angered at the diversion and tens of thousands gather to protest. Pilate’s soldiers mingle among the crowd and with daggers hidden in their garments, attack the protesters. “A great number” are slain and wounded and the sedition ends.
Louis XIV starts the third of the Dutch Wars in 1672, in which the French overrun the Netherlands. In defense, the Dutch open their dikes and flood the country, creating a watery barrier that is virtually impenetrable.
A reservoir in Ops Township, Upper Canada (now Ontario) is destroyed by neighbors who consider it a hazard to health.
In 1573 at the beginning of the eighty years war against Spain, the Dutch flood the land to break the siege of Spanish troops on the town Alkmaar. The same defense is used to protect Leiden in 1574. This strategy becomes known as the Dutch Water Line and is used frequently for defense in later years.
The Spanish Habsburgs attempt to prevent ship traffic on the River Rhine from reaching the Dutch Republic in order to damage the Dutch economy. Plans are also made to divert water from the Rhine to lands under Spanish control, to dry up downstream cities in Holland. The first stage is a canal between the Rhine and Meuse, between the cities of Rheinberg and Venlo. Plans for a later stage call for a connection between the Meuse and the Scheldt to…
Leonardo da Vinci and Machiavelli plan to divert Arno River away from Pisa during conflict between Pisa and Florence (Italy).
Ferry house on Brooklyn shore of East River burns down. New Yorkers accuse Brooklynites of having set the fire as revenge for unfair East River water rights.
British and Hessians attack the water system of New York. “…the enemy wantonly destroyed the New York water works’ during the War for Independence.
A leader of the slave rebellion on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, Toussaint L’Oueverture, says “The only resources we have are destruction and fire. Annihilate everything and burn everything. Block the roads, pollute the wells with corpses and dead horses.”
In the 6th century AD, as the Roman Empire begins to decline, the Goths besiege Rome and cut almost all of the aqueducts leading into the city. In 537 AD this siege is successful. The only aqueduct that continues to function is the Aqua Virgo, which runs almost entirely underground.