Irrigation is the process of transporting water from areas with abundant supply like rivers or reservoirs to drier areas for agricultural and domestic purposes. Ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians developed early irrigation systems using dams, reservoirs, and canals to supply water to lands away from water sources. Irrigation was invented to allow people living farther from water access to drink, grow crops, and meet other needs, and made obtaining water more reliable and regular. Today, irrigation continues to enable farming in more places and help ensure a secure food supply for more people.

1. By : Charlotte

2. What is irrigation?
Irrigation is the process where water is moved from one
area (where there is a lot of water supply, such
as rivers or reservoirs) to another area which does not have
much water.
There are different types of irrigation, for example, perennial
irrigation (used in Mesopotamia )and basin
irrigation (used by the early Egyptians).
Irrigation comes from Latin, meaning "a supplying of water
to land," (irrigationem).

3. How was irrigation used?
Engineers in Mesopotamia built humongous dams, to
create reservoirs and canals that would carry water
across land, so that people without easy access to water
could get water for their needs.
As part of the irrigation system, there were many canals
carrying water to different parts of Mesopotamia.

4. Why was irrigation invented?
Irrigation was invented so people living not so near to a
water source could drink, water their plants, cook, clean
themselves and use boats for transportation.

5. How did irrigation make life easier?
Since some people didn’t live so close to a water source,
using irrigation, they could access water easily, to drink,
clean themselves, cook and so on. The main difference
that irrigation made to their lives was that these people
had a regular and dependable supply of water.

6. How has this invention changed
the world today?
Irrigation changed the world today because it allows people to
carry out farming which did not depend just on rainfall.
Therefore people are able to farm in more places in the world than
they otherwise would have been able to.
As humans moved away from relying on rainwater, more land
became available for people to grow crops. This has helped man
have a more secure life because he is able to have food regularly.
Our world today would be very different without irrigation - we
might all still be hunter-gatherers!

7. Pictures
Levee: holds the
water back
Dam: controls the flow
of water
Canal: allows the water to
be brought to drier areas

8. Resource List
1. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-irrigation.htm
2.Mr. Huynh
3.My GD Book
4.http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/cowen/~GEL115/115
CH17oldirrigation.html
5. http://www.google.co.uk/img?hl=en&tab=ii :
Google Images