Reservoir destroyed in Canada
A reservoir in Ops Township, Upper Canada (now Ontario) is destroyed by neighbors who consider it a hazard to health.
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Spain attempts to re-route Rhine River to harm Dutch
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…
Intentional Drying Up of Canals in Mughal, India
Historian M. Athar Ali writes that in Mughal India, in the 1260s, the water canals and reservoirs feeding Delhi were intentionally dried up “because the channels feeding it were dammed up by ‘dishonest men,’” referring to local protests over social and political conditions.
Dutch flood land to repel French
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.
Florence plan to cut Pisa’s water
Leonardo da Vinci and Machiavelli plan to divert Arno River away from Pisa during conflict between Pisa and Florence (Italy).
New York water dispute
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.
300,000 deaths when Yellow River dikes are breached in 1642.
In 1642, in a battle between the incoming Manchu and the forces of the Ming dynasty, Yellow River (China) dikes are breached by both sides, creating a catastrophe for Kaifeng in which 300,000 of its 378,000 citizens die.
Arizona mobilizes troops to protest Parker Dam
Arizona calls out the National Guard and militia units to the border with California to protest the construction of Parker Dam and diversions from the Colorado River; dispute ultimately is settled in court.
China floods Yellow River to defend from Japan
Chiang Kai-shek orders the destruction of flood-control dikes of the Huayuankou, Henan section of the Huang He (Yellow) River, in order to flood areas threatened by the Japanese army. West of Kaifeng, dikes are destroyed with dynamite, spilling water across the flat plain. Even though the flood destroys part of the invading army and mires its equipment in mud, Wuhan, the headquarters of the Nationalist government is taken by the Japanese in October. Floodwaters cover an area variously estimated as…
Dams attacked in Spanish Civil War
During the Spanish Civil War, two concrete gravity dams, at Burguillo and Ordunte, are attacked by the Nationalist army, with a 2.5-ton charge placed in an inspection gallery at Ordunte. Some limited damage; repaired 1938-1939.