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History

Circa 3000 BC, the craters of extinct volcanoes in Arabia were used as reservoirs by farmers for their irrigation water.

Dry climate and water scarcity in India led to early development of stepwells and other water resource management techniques, including the building of a reservoir at Girnar in 3000 BC. Artificial lakes dating to the 5th century BC have been found in ancient Greece. The artificial Bhojsagar lake in present-day Madhya Pradesh state of India, constructed in the 11th century, covered 650 square kilometres (250 sq mi).

The Kingdom of Kush invented the Hafir, a type of reservoir, during the Meroitic period. 800 ancient and modern hafirs have been registered in the Meroitic town of Butana. The Hafirs catch the water during rainy seasons in order to ensure water is available for several months during dry seasons to supply drinking water, irrigate fields and water cattle. The Great Reservoir near the Lion Temple in Musawwarat es-Sufra is a notable hafir in Kush.

In Sri Lanka, large reservoirs were created by ancient Sinhalese kings in order to store water for irrigation. The famous Sri Lankan king Parākramabāhu I of Sri Lanka said "Do not let a drop of water seep into the ocean without benefiting mankind." He created the reservoir named Parakrama Samudra ("sea of King Parakrama"). Vast artificial reservoirs were also built by various ancient kingdoms in Bengal, Assam, and Cambodia.