by Monica Peters
Looking through the twin lenses of water quality and water use in two European landscapes highlights a lengthy history of reshaping the environment.
The German town of Freiburg (pop. 230,000) owns a network of narrow, shallow ‘baechle’ which cut through the cobbled streets. They are a mildly hazardous, distinctive feature of the town and an historic remnant of days when these diminutive urban canals were needed to provide water for drinking and quenching fires. Today, the waters are so clean that they are used to cool hot feet in the summer time, feed thirsty dogs and to sail specially designed miniature boats along. More