Member
Hydrocracy: redefining water-centric administrative borders based on hydrological features, i.e., the extent of major rivers, and the irrigation, economic, and fluvial transportation capabilities they unlock.
Less arbitrary than historical borders, and holds great explanatory power over some water-conflicted areas (such as Kashmir)
Interesting. In The Netherlands we have elected water boards, that have responsability for all that has to do with the water in their area. Not sure what it is based on, but many are named after rivers flowing through.
As for determining the borders, there are the drainage bassins, the areas where all the surface water flows to one focal point.
Interesting way to reshape the world.
1
1
2
If you think about it, it's also ~ sorting the world's landmass by its z axis, since drainage basins extend from the highest elevation to sea level
1
2
Interestingly, I think this way of slicing human territories would completely upend existing borders, because many of them are actually based on rivers (a heritage of rivers being natural frontlines in wars because of how difficult they are to cross under fire).
Whereas this hydrocracy map would place rivers at the *center* of territories, and borders at halfway points between major rivers (just like maritime borders are at halfway points between two counties’s coastlines)
2
Exactly, which is why mapping the world this way (and overlaying it on top of national borders) would surface early insights into future conflicts
1
1
It’s a neologism, but given that both Earth (by surface) and humans (by volume) are ~70% H₂O, it’s not much of a stretch to think of a world where water rules above all else (literally “hydrocracy”)
1
2
That is definitely food for thought. It also explains why the fight for dominance at the arctic circle is heating up geopolitically.
Hydrocracy sounds like a brilliant way to organize regions, making borders logical and boosting cooperation over water resources