The Once Sunken Town

The Once Sunken Town

Marissa Dittman

Normally, I don’t follow the news, but on the rare occasion curiosity gets the best of me, I usually go first to aol.com. A fairly decent website for news it at least covers the most recent current events. It also keeps entertainment articles, cute stories, and scientific discoveries. I scroll through the slideshow on the front page, switching from serious world news to entertainment. I pass up ‘Mechanics Find Kitten in Engine,’ and ‘$400 Million Sunken Ship Recovered.’ Finally something catches my eye.

‘Remains of Sunken Town Re-Emerge in Brazil’s Drought.’

A modern day ruin, a sunken city. I’ve always been fascinated with underwater buildings, the mixture of human life and unlivable world beneath the water. A modern day Atlantis.

The city of Igarata had sunk 45 years ago in 1969, the result of human intervention. A damn had been built on the Jaguari River, creating a reservoir. This new manmade lake drowned the city in 30 meters of water, almost 100 feet. The town has remained underwater, abandoned, until now. For the past 80 years there has been a devastating drought in Brazil. Even now water is being restricted in nearby Sao Paulo. This drought has caused the water level in the reservoir to drop low enough to reveal the city.

Former residents of Igarata visited the city they once lived in. “It brings me happiness in some ways, but it’s also very sad. Happiness because the things that were around when I was a child are re-emerging from the water, but sadness because of the lack of water.” Jose Carlos Almeida said.

This left me curious how many towns have disappeared due to human intervention? In America there are six according to the Center for Land Use and Interpretation. Each of these cities was sunk as a result of a damn being built creating a manmade lake. One, Kennett, California was a Boomtown. In 19944 it became a former boomtown when the town of 100 was flooded by Lake Shasta. The town had once had a population of about 3,000, the result of a nearby gold mine. Another city is a Enfield, Massachusetts, listed as the Valley of the Damned. At the same time Enfield was incorporated, so were three other cities in the same valley. Despite the new towns the valley withered. Immigrant workers from Boston destroyed the valley, setting fire to the towns and squatting in the empty houses. Churches were moved, bodies were reinterred to higher grounds, and 2,500 people were relocated. The Valley then flooded over the next eight years, creating a large, single purpose reservoir, the drinking source for the city of Boston.

This gets me curious. We sink cities, to create lakes for our own uses, whether it be for drinking water, electricity, or simply for amusement. This whole process is for the benefit of humans, but we sink the city, losing it to the world of water. Will this change in the future? Will we one day sink cities without losing the ability to inhabit them?

Surprisingly enough, I came across this topic on iflscience.com. I originally had been looking for articles on how buildings degrade underwater, but struck out. However I did find another, even more interesting article.

‘Plans for a Futuristic, Atlantis-Style, Underwater City Unveiled.’

It turns a Japanese Company, Shimzizu Corp. has come up with a plan to create an underwater dream. Their design is for the city to be a center for mining of natural resources and research into seabed energy resources. This massive sphere would house 5,000 people, with hotels and commercial complexes.

Another design, the brain child of a British and Chinese-based design firm is a floating city. This metropolis would be a solution to overcrowding of the existing land based cities. Made of hexagonal sections the city would have both an above, and below water sections. The city would be mostly self-sustainable. Underwater hatcheries, and vertical farms would be used to produce food for the community.

These designs aren’t without issues. How do we create such a massive structure that can withstand the pressures of the deep ocean? How do we tether a city, to avoid the strong currents of the ocean? How do we be sure this city won’t affect the local wildlife? How do we make a floating city immune to the storms that rage across the oceans? These questions aren’t impossibilities, but instead puzzles for scientists to figure out.

But what about their merits? These aquatic cities would allow more space, possibly preventing the destruction of parks and endangered areas by giving humans other places to live. This city would be a boon to countries that are running out of space to house their ever growing populations. We could give back land to endangered species, giving them a better chance to survive.

These cities are created by humans, for humans. Even when underwater the city would remain usable, a modern day Atlantis for all to enjoy. Maybe we can stop sinking towns to create our own manmade lakes. Maybe instead we can create underwater self-sufficient cities for the use of others. I know I would love to live in an underwater city. Would you?

References

• ‘Remains of Sunken Town Re-Emerge in Brazil’s Drought’, , Feb 5th, 2015
• ‘Immersed Remains: Towns Submerged In America,’ Spring 2005
• Alford, Justine ‘Plans for a Futuristic, Atlantis-Style Underwater City Unveiled,’ Nov 26, 2014
• Alford, Justine, ‘Plans Unveiled for a Floating Future City’ May 30, 2014