One of the delights of a journal like Water History is its ability to bring authors together on themes and topics that are widely discussed in various professional and academic networks. Because of this broad currency, such topics are clearly recognized as important or interesting—but these discussions do not always include the most recent evidence. The collection of papers in this issue, our first of 2018, address one of these time-tested themes– the technology of qanāts.

Qanāts (probably the best-known term for a widespread phenomenon) are clearly mobilized in discussions on ancient ingenuity, water wisdom, sustainable water use, and many others. The technology is also often assigned origins in one specific region. The essays that follow, which will be introduced properly in the paper of Charbonnier and Hopper, show that many of the standard ideas may require (sometimes extensive) revision. The collection of papers in this issue show that qanāts are as interesting and dynamic as they ever were, and worthy of continued scholarly attention and conversation.