Although it is surrounded by water, Manhattan Island has always had water problems. In 1664 Peter Stuyvesant surrendered New York (then called Nieuw Amsterdam) to the British partly because of a shortage of potable water. In 1881 a drought forced New York firemen to learn how to extinguish blazes with dynamite instead of water. In 1949 the city declared a Dry Friday, when residents were asked to stay out of their bathtubs and showers and go unshaven to ease a water shortage. Last week, in the midst of the worst drought they...
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