Based on the texts, how would Chen and colleagues (Text 2) most likely respond to Alvarez's view (Text 1) regarding the…
Text 1
Historian Clara Alvarez argues that the monumental scale of Roman aqueducts was primarily an exercise in civic ostentation rather than utilitarian necessity. Pointing to flow estimates for the Aqua Claudia, Alvarez notes that daily water delivery to Rome vastly outstripped what was required for drinking and basic hygiene. In her view, the surplus was deliberately engineered to supply decorative public fountains and opulent private baths—tangible symbols of imperial munificence designed to impress citizens and foreign visitors alike.
Text 2
Hydrologist Mark Chen and colleagues caution against inferring civic motives solely from peak discharge calculations. They model seasonal variations in the karst springs feeding central Italian aqueducts, demonstrating that source output dropped by as much as 70 percent during late summer. Chen’s team contends that Roman engineers sized aqueduct channels not to sustain frivolous excess, but to ensure that minimum potable volumes remained available during prolonged Mediterranean dry spells.