As a European, I have long wondered how the American West – “Arid Region of the United States” in John Wesley Powell’s words – became home to sprawling megacities, epicenter of the entertainment and technology industries, and a primary source of agricultural products, in short an integral part of American Power?

Water Manipulation and Control – on a monumental scale – is at the heart of this apparent paradox.

Developed over five years and spanning eleven states, Hydraulic Empire explores the past, present, and future prospects of what is quite simply – in terms of technological accomplishments and wealth created – the most ambitious semi-desert civilization project in History.

Ever since the Reclamation Act (1902), a fierce ambition to tame geological and hydrological forces across a region as vast as the European Union gave rise to a Promethean, federally-funded, infrastructure: over 12,000 dams, thousands of miles of canals and rivers virtually running uphill, shifted by gigantic pumping stations.

Hydraulic Empire investigates some of these emblematic sites as well as the contemporary oasis civilization they made possible, occasionally unveiling faint traces of stories beyond the engineering prowess, a history of conflict and controversies, social repercussions or environmental damage.

In a second, forward-looking chapter, the project takes a lucid and uncompromising look at the prospects of such an ambitious human enterprise – driven by both defiance and denial – exposing its frailties, inherent imbalances, and inevitable tensions, further exacerbated by climate change.

Clearly not oblivious to these vulnerabilities, the West has been actively trying to manage and curb its unquenchable thirst through a combination of technology, conservation policies or intensified collaboration, but pressing questions remain: will it be enough?

Although largely elaborated through extensive research and dialogue with academics/scientists, the project, crucially, also gives a voice to the people of the Hydraulic Empire, by documenting selected ‘case studies’, the images and stories of individuals – from almond farmers to indigenous communities – already facing a water conundrum.