The provision of water has been a major enterprise in human history. Groundwater was one of the first sources since the prehistoric times to cover human needs. Initially, the exploitation of groundwater has been made by shallow wells and later by boreholes. A water well is constructed through excavation in the ground by digging, driving, boring, or drilling to access groundwater in aquifers. Groundwater wells were used in the Helladic world since Neolithic times. Ancient China developed a sophisticated tool for drilling water wells that is similar to modern machines. Qanat, a system of wells, originated in Iran (Persia), but was adopted by other countries. Moreover, the Indus valley civilization had well-constructed wells mainly for drinking purposes. The construction of wells varied according to local conditions, determined by geology, hydrogeology, and morphology, as well as by local tradition. Furthermore, a well was not just a water source but also became a cultural symbol throughout history, related to local religion and custom. The stepwells in India became not only sources of drinking water, but also holy places (sanctuaries) for bathing, meditation and prayer. In the present review, the evolution of wells through the centuries is examined. The study of water well technologies demonstrates their diachronic evolution and, furthermore, reveals that the ancient people had an outstanding engineering knowledge of water exploitation, which is interesting for water engineering and hydrogeologists, even nowadays.
Water management has been the focus of research, not only because of water scarcity, but also as a result of its sharing across national boundaries. Approximately 40% of the global population lives in tranboundary water basins, shared by more than one country, emphasizing the need for concerted management of transboundary water bodies and harmonization of policies. Under this view, water should be managed in an internationalized way, integrating methodologies and techniques used in natural as well as social sciences. Public participation and information are vital procedural safeguards of transboundary water recourses management and sustainable regional development. The paper presents a combined methodology based on traditional engineering oriented tools on the one hand and interactive public participation procedures on the other, applied in the Greek-Bulgarian transboundary Mesta/Nestos river basin.
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