Book Description

In the wake of the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire, the city of San Francisco desperately needed reliable supplies of water and electricity. Its mayor, James Phelan, pressed for the damming of the Tuolumne River in the newly created Yosemite National Park, setting off a firestorm of protest. For the first time in American history, a significant national opposition arose to defend and preserve nature, led by John Muir and the Sierra Club, who sought to protect what they believed was the right of all Americans to experience natural beauty, particularly the magnificent mountains of the Yosemite region. Yet the defenders of the valley, while opposing the creation of a dam and reservoir, did not intend for it to be maintained as wilderness. Instead they advocated a different kind of development--the building of roads, hotels, and an infrastructure to support recreational tourism. Using articles, pamphlets, and broadsides, they successfully whipped up public opinion against the dam. Letters from individuals began to pour into Congress by the thousands, and major newspapers published editorials condemning the dam.The fight went to the floor of Congress, where politicians debated the value of scenery and the costs of western development. Ultimately, passage of the passage of the Raker Act in 1913 by Congress granted San Francisco the right to flood the Hetch Hetchy Valley.A decade later the O'Shaughnessy Dam, the second largest civil engineering project of its day after the Panama Canal, was completed. Yet conflict continued over the ownership of the watershed and the profits derived from hydroelectrocity. To this day the reservoir provides San Francisco with a pure and reliable source of drinking water and an important source of power. Although the Sierra Club lost this battle, the controversy stirred the public into action on behalf of national parks.Future debates over dams and restoration clearly demonstrated the burgeoning strength of grassroots environmentalism.In a narrative peopled by politicians and business leaders, engineers and laborers, preservationists and ordinary citizens, Robert W. Righter tells the epic story of the first major environmental battle of the twentieth century, which reverberates to this day. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A classic of environmental history
Robert W. Righter has extended his reputation as a leading American environmental historian by this informative and well written account of the building of the Hetch Hetchy dam in Yosemite National Park in the early 1900's. He is candid and even handed in admitting that there were and are no easy answers in this complex history of building a dam in a national park. This book follows his earlier and acclaimed book (Crucible for Conservation, The Struggle for Grand Teton National Park) which contains the compelling story of the establishment of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming in which the issue was whether the Park as a contiguous and viable entity would ever be established over the objections of local and regional political and other interests. ... Read more

Book Description

The only major U.S. railroad to be operated by westerners and the only railroad built from west to east, the Southern Pacific acquired a unique history and character. It also acquired a reputation, especially in California, as a railroad that people loved to hate. This magisterial history tells the full story of the Southern Pacific for the first time, shattering myths about the company that have prevailed to this day. A landmark account, Sunset Limited explores the railroad's development and influence--especially as it affected land settlement, agriculture, water policy, and the environment--and offers a new perspective on the tremendous, often surprising, role the company played in shaping the American West.
Based on his unprecedented and extensive research into the company's historical archives, Richard Orsi finds that, contrary to conventional understanding, the Southern Pacific Company identified its corporate well-being with population growth and social and economic development in the railroad's hinterland. As he traces the complex and shifting intersections between corporate and public interest, Orsi documents the railroad's little-known promotion of land distribution, small-scale farming, scientific agriculture, and less wasteful environmental practices and policies--including water conservation and wilderness and recreational parklands preservation.
Meticulously researched, lucidly written, and judiciously balanced, Sunset Limited opens a new window onto the American West in a crucial phase of its development and will forever change our perceptions of one of the largest and most important western corporations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The definitive history of water resources in the American West, and a very illuminating lesson in the political economy of limited resources anywhere. Highly recommended! ... Read more

Reviews (63)

An essential book for understanding modern American life
The late Marc Reisner's brilliant and epic history of the struggles over water in the American West is an epic tale, and it is replete with heroes, villains, and victims. Unfortunately, most of the heroes appear early in the story, with mainly villains onstage at the end. Reisner begins his book with a recounting of the exploration and study of the West by several pioneers, but especially by John Wesley Powell, who understood the essential and unavoidable problems of the West earlier and better than anyone. Powell understood that the West was arid, most of it receiving far less water than needed to support either agriculture or livestock. His visionary and yet profoundly practical suggestions were largely rejected by the United States, setting the stage for much of the overdevelopment and exploitation in the twentieth century.

From Powell, Reisner carries his narrative through such vivid personalities and events as William Mulholland, who pioneered water works to provide Los Angeles with water; Michael Strauss, the head of the Bureau of Reclamation for FDR, during which time the bureau built literally hundreds of dams; and the infamous Floyd Dominy, who manages to be both charismatic and scary at the same time, like a James Bond villain. He also takes the reader through some of the more spectacular water projects in US history, such as the building of the Hoover Dam and the Grand Coulee Dam, in addition to scores of massive water projects for various states in the US. He also devotes a great deal of space to the struggles between the Bureau of Reclamation and the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the resulting economic disaster that resulted.

Reisner shows in excruciating detail how America has stretched its use of water in the West to the breaking point. For many in the West, water has been the key to an expanding economy and population, to the point where most of the water states are completely dependent on maintaining or even expanding their current water supply. But, as Reisner shows and Powell anticipated, there are inescapable limits to how much water can be provided to the West. Moreover, much of the water use is resulting in ecological disaster. It isn't just that some of the dams are dangerous (such as the Teton Dam, which ruptured and broke some years ago, and which is not too different from other dams currently in use), or that many of the dams are destined to silt up (in fact, most dams, as Reisner points out, are built with a specific lifespan in mind, which means that thousands of American dams will at some point need replacing), or hundred of wildlife habitats have been destroyed. Most of the dams have led to irrigation farming, which has throughout history led to the destruction of soil, like in Iraq, where nearly all the arable soil has been destroyed through irrigation.

This is a sobering, frightening book, and one would hope that it would help lead to a renewed effort to bring Western water policy in line with the facts that John Wesley Powell outlined over a hundred years ago. Eventually, we will have to face these facts. Hopefully we will do so before catastrophe forces it upon us.

One of the most illuminating books I have read in a while
"Cadillac Desert" is one of those books that causes a person to seriously question "the system" (no matter your ideological affiliation). The book exposes the blantant contradictions and hypocrisy that have permeated the history of the West (which history is the history of water and it being reigned in). Take my own situation for example: Over the last couple of weeks I found myself agreeing page after page with the authors' points of view. During those same weeks when I was reading the book and agreeing with the author, I was swimming in, showering in, watering my lawn with, and drinking the very water the author condemned. As if that wasn't bad enough I reflected on my former years when I worked every summer on the family farm which was sustained by CAP and reclamation water. Ouch!!!
My reading this book can basically be translated into the author, Marc Reisner, slapping me in the face and chewing me out and me just sitting there unable to defend myself. The book sets forth examples that are virtually impossible to argue against. However, one point Mr. Reisner failed to mention is the importance agriculture plays in our national security and our ability as a nation to sustain ourselves. This point, though, hardly justifies the irrational decisions made buy both the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers. I mention it here as a kind a weak punch from the canvas in an attempt to justify my existence after being so brutally beaten down by facts and the exposure of the blatant hypocrisy perpetuated by so-called "ideological purists" (which come from both sides of the aisle). The author said it best by stating that when it comes to water there are no Republicans and Democrats, and there are no liberals or conservatives.

Devastating
The work of a lifetime, Reisner's 500 page expose on the Western Water Machine will change the way any fist-time reader views 1)water 2) the federal government, and 3) the American West.

Reisner's book is of a rare breed: meticulously researched, written with craft and humor and a human touch, and altogether damning mjust by telling the facts.

In essence, and for a longer paraphrase look below, Reisner demonstrates that Los Angeles, California farmers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corps of Engineers and others worked togther to bend reality in favor of growth and living space. At some level this made sense. Hoover Dam, Reisner writes, helped to win WWII through its desperately needed energy production. However, at some point what was once needed became an imperitive for its own sake. Dams for the sake of building beautiful dams. Water projects for political legacy. Expensive water projects for farmers growing surplus crops. And then America gradually became aware that this Cadillac desert - an artificial oasis where the land once was dry - has come at a staggering environmental and recreational cost.

It's a book that open the reader's eyes and understand a bit more about how U.S.A. works, especially in the arid West.

Rewarding Reading
This reader highly recommends this work to show the complexity involved in answering the question, "How much does a glass of water cost in the American Southwest "? The author wrote a well-researched book in an attempt to show the factors involved in answering that question. The author portrays a complex web of jurisdictions on the state local and federal levels that are involved in various projects. Every policy has its winners and losers. The book contains a little history of the Southwest, some personal interviews, many stories of the pork barrel politics involved to make sure the rest of the country buys into these irrigation and dam projects. This book will be an eye-opener for most Easterners in this country where battling over water rights is generally not on the local political agenda. A very rewarding book.

terrific - and terrifically scary - history
I picked up Marc Reisner's books after moving to CA recently from what I now realize is blissfully non-seismic and adequately-watered New England... This is a great history of man getting the (temporary) best of nature and whistling past the dam. The chapter on Bureau of Reclamation chief Floyd Dominy is worth the price alone: he is the type of headstrong, puritanical warrior (no exaggeration there) that American has produced in droves, yet he is virtually unknown now. The character profiles of John Wesley Powell and others are equally as good. I only wish that other historians had the sense of humor and irony that Reisner employs so well. ... Read more

Book Description

The Santa Cruz River that once flowed through Tucson, Arizona is today a sad mirage of a river. Except for brief periods following heavy rainfall, it is bone dry. The cottonwood and willow trees that once lined its banks have died, and the profusion of birds and wildlife recorded by early settlers are nowhere to be seen. The river is dead. What happened? Where did the water go?

As Robert Jerome Glennon explains in Water Follies, what killed the Santa Cruz River — and could devastate other surface waters across the United States — was groundwater pumping. From 1940 to 2000, the volume of water drawn annually from underground aquifers in Tucson jumped more than six-fold, from 50,000 to 330,000 acre-feet per year. And Tucson is hardly an exception — similar increases in groundwater pumping have occurred across the country and around the world. In a striking collection of stories that bring to life the human and natural consequences of our growing national thirst, Glennon provides an occasionally wry and always fascinating account of groundwater pumping and the environmental problems it causes.

Glennon sketches the culture of water use in the United States, explaining how and why we are growing increasingly reliant on groundwater. He uses the examples of the Santa Cruz and San Pedro rivers in Arizona to illustrate the science of hydrology and the legal aspects of water use and conflicts. Following that, he offers a dozen stories — ranging from Down East Maine to San Antonio's River Walk to Atlanta's burgeoning suburbs — that clearly illustrate the array of problems caused by groundwater pumping. Each episode poses a conflict of values that reveals the complexity of how and why we use water. These poignant and sometimes perverse tales tell of human foibles including greed, stubbornness, and, especially, the unlimited human capacity to ignore reality.

As he explores the folly of our actions and the laws governing them, Glennon suggests common-sense legal and policy reforms that could help avert potentially catastrophic future effects. Water Follies, the first book to focus on the impact of groundwater pumping on the environment, brings this widespread but underappreciated problem to the attention of citizens and communities across America. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A book any hydrology student should read
I read this book during a summer program dealing with freshwater resources throughout the world. It not only helped my progression through the course, but also gave me a new perspective on water as a resource. In the US most of us do not give a second thought to the water we use in our everyday lives. Even in regions plagued by drought modern technology adds to the illusion that water is everywhere and limitless. However, any reader of this book will tell you differently. It takes you through different case studies through out the country where water use has had dramatic influence on the environment we live in. It explains not just the science of the situation but also the politics often behind the scenes as well. I would highly recommend this book to any student, professor, or hobbyist with an interest in hydrology.

The same motives as Scheherazade
Most recent controversy over the use and conservation of America's fresh water has concerned the water visible on the surface - river and lakes. With that as an implicit focus, we frequently argue over where dams ought to be built, what fields ought to be irrigated and at whose cost, whether homes in flood plains ought to be insured at public expense, and so forth.

Robert Glennon, a professor of law at the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, wants to draw our attention to invisible water, and to the question how we might best avoid either polluting or running out of it.

Early on, he tells the story of Ubar, a city of ancient Arabia, an oasis for the camel caravans of its time, and a place of fabulous wealth. Scheherazade spoke of Ubar in one of her thousand-and-one tales, as did countless bedouins around countless campfires. It became an Arabian Sodom, reputedly destroyed at the peak of its splendor by an angry God. What Glennon adds is that Ubar (in what we now call Oman) was a very real place.

In the 1980s, an amateur archeologist, Nicholas Clapp, led an expedition that successfully located and unearthed the fortress that had once guarded the precious spring-fed well that had made the city a port of call for those desert-crossing voyagers. It now appears that sometime between 300 and 500 AD, Ubar simply fell. It collapsed of its own weight, into a huge underground limestone cavern - the cavern that its wells had progressively emptied of water. The groundwater had held the city up, physically as well as fiscally. So Ubar, having exended its capital, sank out of sight, and entered legend as the "Atlantis of the desert" (T.E. Lawrence's phrase.)

Glennon tells this story for the same three reasons that Scheherazade did: to charm, to instruct, to survive.

Page Turner!
Glennon is a gifted writer who sucks you in from the opening pages of the introduction and makes you care about the outcomes of the stories he presents. In a witty and accessible style he tells the alarming story of the devastating effects of groundwater pumping, effects that are not limited to the desert areas of this country. This is a book for all of us! Although engaging and readable the book is packed with enough information to provide me (not a legal or environmental scholar) with the data I need to speak in an informed fashion to tell decision makers and friends that we need to do something about this before it's too late.

A clarion warning
Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping And The Fate Of America's Fresh Waters by Robert Glennon (Morris K. Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy, University of Arizona) is a timely and much needed wake-up call concerning the all-too-frequent pollution and misuse of the groundwater tables that America relies upon for fresh drinking water. Consisting of a selection of anecdotes about how the Santa Cruz River in Tucson went dry, the rampant greed in Tampa Bay, watershed initiatives concerning Massachusetts' Ipswitch River Basin, and a great deal more, Water Follies is a clarion warning and very strongly recommended contribution for Environmental Studies reference collections.

Must Read for Environmentalists
I thought I had a pretty good understanding of issues relating to fresh water and the environment. I didn't, but I do now after reading Water Follies.

This is a very important book for anyone interested in the environment. I am pretty well read on environmental topics and was surprised by how much I learned from Glennon's very readable book.

The author explains very clearly the interrelationships among ground water, lakes, rivers, and the damage we have done and are doing to the environment through mindless groundwater pumping.

Fresh water shortages and ground water pumping are going to be front page stories over the next few years. Water Follies will enable you to appreciate the issues involved and to develop a well informed opinion. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A Powerful Call to Action
Wnen it comes to water and environmental issues, the United States looks much more like a third world banana republic than a first-world, top-of-the-heap military and economic superpower. Years ago, former US senator Paul Simon alerted our government to a problem that could be mankind's undoing: the uneven distribution and wasteful consumption of water for agriculture, industry, and urban consumers across the nation and the greater world. His book, Tapped Out not only explains the problems associated with world supply, it also engages the average the person to contribute to the solution.

Water is the only resource for which there is no substitute. The world's water resources are plagued with a great variety of problems, and they typically fall into one of five broad groups- availability, quantity, quality, distribution, and competing agendas. Rich countries are increasingly finding themselves pitted against poor countries for limited water resources. In many instances, large and wasteful consumers are taking needed, precious quantities from others to slake their insatiable demand. Furthermore, more societies are reaching farther and farther to acquire this precious and critical resource.

Tapped Out has a number of favorable attributes. The book introduces the reader to the problem in an easy to understand manner. All technical terms are clearly defined as they are presented, and the book succeeds immensely in achieving its stated goal- eliciting the reader's interest in water issues. Moreover, Mr. Simon goes beyond lamenting the situation, and offers practical solutions to the problem. Finally, Mr. Simon shows the reader how the average person can be part of the solution to the problem. The reader is not left feeling overwhelmed and powerless in the face of the sheer magnitude of the problem. As such, the book is a good call to action overall.

However, there are a few moderate demerits, primarily structural, to the text. First, Mr. Simon cites too many examples in the first half of the text. These examples, while informative, come one after another and at times made the reading rather plodding. Instead, each major point should have been isolated, described in general terms, and then two to three examples which elaborate on each point should have been cited. That way, the reader gets a true sense of the problem while at the same time learning and more importantly retaining the pertinent facts. Second, the book relies too much on text, making the book very monotonous at times. Pictures would have added considerable value to the text. In addition a global map that explicitly displayed the distribution of the world's water resources, as well as the areas where water shortages are a problem, would also have been helpful. Moreover, the inclusion of graphs depicting trends in population, water supply and water consumption would also have been useful. Finally, future editions of the text should include a more balanced discussion of the technical challenges associated with water purification, desalination, and energy requirements and costs.

While I agree in principle with many of the points that Mr. Simon raises in his book, I have very strong reservations about Mr. Simon's solution to the water supply problem. Unfortunately, American bays, coastlines, rivers and lakes have earned the dubious distinction of becoming our nation's 'Great Toilet'. Mr. Simon has very high hopes that one day in the near future, we will desalinate the dirty water from this make-shift natural toilet for the purposes of human consumption and agricultural production.

Given the current state of the art, it may not be possible to use reclaimed water or seawater on any appreciable scale to avert water shortages. Traditionally, wastewater treatment is used to bring microbial and organic loads down to a 'safe' level so that the wastewater can be discharged to natural water systems. These natural systems then do the rest, primarily via dilution, entrapment, and degradation processes. Considering the deplorable state of the nation's waterways and coastlines, a desalination plant on the coast would have to be immediately adjacent to and downstream of a wastewater treatment plant. Moreover, each step in the process would create waste- effluents that would either have to be disposed of or put in some way to use. Finally, the process would also require a dedicated energy source. Desalination schemes currently require large amounts of energy for their operation, and as they are envisioned, will require huge energy input. As such, I am afraid that these schemes will ultimately play into the already strong hand of the energy companies. Solar energy, while a possibility, depends on area, and a given area, usually quite large, is required to satisfy a very limited water demand. Should demand increase, one would have very little maneuvering room when looking to scale up a solar-driven process. Therefore, solar-driven processes may be extremely limited, leaving only fossil fuels and nuclear power to provide the necessary energy. As a result, the cost of desalinated water if deployed on a large scale would inevitably track the cost of energy very closely. Thus, I suspect that energy companies are salivating at the prospect of such large-scale desalination schemes becoming reality.

In conclusion, this book, along with J R McNeil's Something New Under the Sun, has forced me to seriously consider the social, ecological, and environmental consequences associated with the adoption and deployment of any techno-economic process. After reading this book, I am now one more person who is strongly motivated to work towards a practical solution to a problem that affects all of us in the global community.

A compilation of quotes
"Tapped Out" is a good primer for those just beginning to study the issue of water scarcity, but there is little new in the book. Simon has taken quotes from news articles and studies and compiled them into a fairly credible call for action, however most of the information he references in the book dates from the early to mid-90s and is pulled from news sources. He calls for more development of desalinization technologies and more conservation, but his suggestions lack insight into the biggest problem facing the world--too many people seeking the good life where adequate water is taken for granted. In the US, where the problem is related to a growing population, and primarily to the country's addiction to water-wasting recreation and industry, he addresses water restriction almost as an afterthought. "Tapped Out" should be just the beginning of an investigation into the future of a thirsty world.

Finally,dams are being removed
Some progress in saving water resources is being made by removing dams-up to & including Glen Canyon Dam. Follow Simon's requests--last 3 pages-take action,this forboding crisis will be exacerbated by Y2K.... ... Read more

Book Description

Working with his remarkable invention, the Flowform, John Wilkes has uncovered the hidden secrets of water. Among those secrets, says Wilkes, is that water is the universal bearer of whatever character we put into it, and that for this reason the way we treat water is of fundamental importance to our health and to the well- being of our planet.

This lavishly illustrated book documents a lifetime of inquiry into the true nature of water. It includes a history of flowform research as well as the most important up-to-date developments in this research throughout the world. It also includes informative appendices on metamorphosis, flowform designs and applications, and the scientific and technical aspects of flowform research. ... Read more

Book Description

Vandana Shiva, "the world's most prominent radical scientist" (the Guardian), exposes yet another corporate maneuver to convert a critical world resource into a profitable commodity. Using the global water trade as a lens, she highlights the destruction of the earth and the disenfranchisement of the world's poor as they lose their right to a life-sustaining common good. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Don't take water for granted!
Water is an essential part of life most Americans take for granted. It's easy to dismiss water quality or availability issues, but they affect everyone.

Although Shiva puts a decidedly anti-corporation spin on her anecdotes, she raises many interesting points and asks some tough questions. Everyone should be concerned with environmental quality, and this book is a good start.

The book isn't merely about environmentalism, however. It also covers the economic, political, and financial impact of control over water. Those who control water, control the world!

The book is well-written and intriguing. Shiva's environmental science is solid, but described in a way laymen can understand.

This book is a TREASURE!
It should be required reading in every college and university!

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realize that corporations want to control all of our natural resources. If these temples of greed could bottle and sell the air we breathe, they would! And, guess what, every living thing on earth needs water, either directly, or indirectly, to survive. I would even dare say water is more precious than oil!

This is a very well reasoned and articulate book. While some reviewers are satisfied with ridiculous ad hominem attacks, I say you be the judge! Don't let someone with ax to grind influence your decision about what to read!

total garbage
The author obviously doesn't have the slightest understanding of the basis of economics.

Much potential, but lost in hurried and cursory analysis
The term "water wars" has gained popular currency ever since Joyce Starr wrote an article by this title in Foreign Policy almost 12 years ago regarding hydropolitics in the Middle East. The alliterative ring of the phrase has endured many empirical studies that dispute its relevance, including some by erstwhile proponents of environmental determinism such as Thomas Homer-Dixon. Such is the allure of the term that only last year (2002) two books of this title were authored (the other one by the American journalist Diane Raines Ward).

Vandana Shiva is a renowned Indian environmentalist who is known for her eclectic interests. However, in the last few years she has focused her indignation for the world's problems on private capital. Thus her eclecticism has reached a rather reductionist end, which unfortunately leads her popular writings to shed more heat than light. In "Water Wars," Shiva weaves together anecdotes (largely from India) and secondary references to present yet another scathing indictment of multinational corporations and international development institutions.

After presenting a brief history of water property rights, which she largely dismisses as "cowboy economics," Shiva goes on to describe instances of conflicts pertaining to water in four areas: i) climate change, ii) dams, iii) potable water supply and iv) irrigation. In all these cases, she makes connections -- some more tenuous than others -- to multinational corporations and international development institutions. In the last two chapters, she prescribes atavistic solutions predicated on traditional practices, such as the Bihari irrigation system of ahars and pynes. The book concludes with theological and transcendental references to the sacred spirit of water and an appendix enlisting a 108 names of the Ganges River.

Overall, Shiva's sincerity of purpose shines through the text, but preconceived notions and normative assertions occlude any rigorous analysis. Regrettably, Shiva appears to have abandoned her methodological roots as an academic physicist. Instead of laying out all the evidence and the arguments in favor and against particular schemes, she chooses to harp on negative cases and offer broad generalizations, which often limit the credibility of her argument. While the book serves a useful purpose of sounding the alarm about world water issues, it does not go the next measure to provide a coherent and constructive vision for change.

Is Water worth fighting for?
With the debate around water scarcity expanding across the globe, Vandana Shiva's Water Wars is an important book to read. With it, she has produced another collection of thought-provoking and well-researched essays. A physicist turned environmental activist, Shiva has a passion for the "essence of life". Water, she argues, is intrinsically different from other resources and products and can NOT be treated simply as a commodity: without water people and the environment cannot survive. To subject water to commercial restrictions and to control its availability to people and communities is unacceptable.

Vandana Shiva discusses the failures and successes of diverse water management systems, past and present. She builds her case by reviewing traditional water systems and evaluating the impact of modern dam building. She examines the recent and current conflicts around water and access controls between countries and peoples. Contrary to others who claim that water scarcity will lead to conflicts in the future, Shiva brings evidence that water wars are already with us and are happening all over the world. She is furthermore convinced, based on her research, that conflicts will become increasingly violent as fresh water resources dwindle.

Destruction of fragile ecosystems and the displacement of people and communities have resulted from the construction of the huge dams, so popular in the sixties to the eighties. She describes the impacts of some of the best-known big dams in India, the United States, Mexico, and China. Using her in-depth knowledge of the Indian Subcontinent she strengthens her arguments with many examples from that region. But she has also studied the conflicts surrounding the Rio Grande rerouting and the big Hoover Dam that has channeled huge amounts of water from Texas and other crop growing regions to satisfy the ever-increasing water hunger of California.

For some readers, Vandana Shiva's focus on Indian examples of water system mismanagement may seem a bit tedious. However, it is worth persisting as there are important lessons to be learned from her examples, in particular, as numerous successful projects have also emerged from India. The successful traditional and present-day initiatives, which she cites, are primarily based on locally managed and community controlled water systems. Experience in many developing countries confirm her conclusions that water is most valued and best preserved for people and environment when managed at the community level with user participation. The chapter 'Food and Water' is a reminder and warning of the fragility of our food production systems.

Privatization of water resources and systems is a major concern to many and Vandana Shiva adds her strong voice. The World Bank estimated the potential water market at $1trillion. Shiva cites examples where the privatization of water has resulted in profits for a minority while increasing the economic burden on the poor. She warns of the consequences if water scarcity develops into a marketing opportunity for private business and transnational corporations.

Vandana Shiva's focus on ethics does not come as a surprise to the reader. Her 'Principles of Water Democracy' take a strong stand for water rights in the current debate whether water is a "human need" or a "human right". She ends with a reminder that water sources have been sacred throughout history. If we were to understand 'value' without its monetary connotation, usually implicit these days, we could treasure natural resources like water and biodiversity without a price tag - as major elements of the global common. This well-researched and well-written book should be read, whatever side of the current debate the reader may be. ... Read more

Book Description

The conventional approach to river protection has focused on water quality and maintaining some "minimum" flow that was thought necessary to ensure the viability of a river. In recent years, however, scientific research has underscored the idea that the ecological health of a river system depends not on a minimum amount of water at any one time but on the naturally variable quantity and timing of flows throughout the year.

In Rivers for Life, leading water experts Sandra Postel and Brian Richter explain why restoring and preserving more natural river flows are key to sustaining freshwater biodiversity and healthy river systems, and describe innovative policies, scientific approaches, and management reforms for achieving those goals. The authors:

Book Description

An award-winning nature writer weaves natural history and personal experience into the dramatic story of the last days of six North American bird species.

Journey with Christopher Cokinos to a time when flocks of Passenger Pigeons blocked the sun and Carolina Parakeets colored the sky--according to one pioneer--"like an atmosphere of gems."

Driven by a desire to understand the lives of these now-extinct birds and how and why they vanished, Cokinos excavates crumbling newspapers and forgotten reports. From Bird Rock in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Louisiana's tangled bayous, he searches for those who loved the Passenger Pigeon, the Carolina Parakeet, and the Labrador Duck; for the people who stalked the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, the Heath Hen, and the Great Auk; and for those who tried to save them.

A compelling blend of science, history, politics, and memoir, Hope Is the Thing with Feathers draws on previously unpublished photographs and original documents to make these long-vanished birds come alive. Cokinos delves into the mysterious sighting of Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers in April 1999; the incredible plan to create new Heath Hens on Martha's Vineyard; and the astonishing possibility that these extinct birds could be resurrected through the science of cloning. Published to mark the 100-year anniversary of the shooting of the last wild Passenger Pigeon, Hope Is the Thing with Feathers is a wonderfully textured and ultimately uplifting narrative.

"This story--the ghost species still haunting this continent--is full of power and mystery."--Bill McKibben

Illustrated with 30 black-and-white photographsBibliographyIndex ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Perched in the soul...
...From the second line of the Emily Dickinson poem that both inspired Cokinos and gave him his title for the book. It is only natural that a poet would look to Dickinson and it is appropriate that it is this form which guides this book. HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS is indeed a poetic and lyrical description of the symbolic significance of six vanished species of North American birds.

The Carolina parakeet, Heath Hen, Great Auk, Passenger pigeon, Labrador duck and Ivory-billed woodpecker have with their passing come to represent for Cokinos a lot more than simply another group of vanished species. They are emblematic of lost time, effort, habitat, environment, and are missing slice of life. Poignant as his descriptions of their loss is, there is always an element of hope that suffuses each of his chapters.

Cokinos with this book successfully blends history with a little bit of biology and adds just enough personal observation and insight. The mix works and his writing is excellent. There is enough science here to satisfy those who wish to remain at a respectable distance. For those who don't mind getting close there is sufficient reason - through what these birds represent about our past and future on this planet - to allow them to come and perch in your soul.

Excellen Book with tons of information
Cokinos, an amateur birder, explores the life histories and conservation problems of North America's extinct birds, and then visits some of the famous zoos and nesting sites that marked the end of a species. Each section is filled with personal stories about the birds to give the reader a better feel for how the birds reacted to their habitats.

The book covers the Passenger Pigeon, Heath Hen, Carolina Parakeet, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Labrador Duck and Great Auk. Every birder has seen large flocks of Cedar Waxwings practically stripping all the berries from a tree- but imagine a flock of 3,000 Passenger Pigeons (considerably larger than a Mourning Dove, and much noisier) flying into a forest and deciding to nest there. That would be a small colony. It was the most populous bird on earth just a hundred years ago- and now it's gone.

The book is filled with interesting, and sometimes witty stories that will keep the reader from closing the cover. Sometimes, though, Cokinos drags on with information that doesn't seem necessary to the rest of the text- but this, by no means, should discourage you from buying the novel. I definitely recommend it.

A wonderful book - definitely required reading
Although it chronicles several chapters of bull-headed human stupidity, this book also documents the painstaking efforts of the many people who worked hard to save these vanished creatures, and offers some hope that the future need not repeat the past. At times sad, but also funny, and even joyful despite the material.

One of the best books I have ever read...
This book touched me deeply, made me both laugh, made me cry, made me angry...and also made me marvel at the what nature created, that I will never see. Months later, this book still touches me, and I often think of the stories in it. I didn't think a book on this subject could be as engaging, interesting and sad. It took me into the lives of these birds, explained their demise, told me about the last of their species. This really is a story that should be required reading for everyone...something that shows us that our actions have costs, shows us how greed and selfishness can really hurt the world around us, permanently...

Interesting, well-written, for lovers of wild birds
For the most part, Christopher Cokinos' "Hope is the Thing With Feathers" is an excellent and comfortable book. The author's writing style makes reading this book almost effortless. The pages flew by almost as if I were watching a movie.

The book chronicles, from a very personal level, the author's research on some of America's more recently extinct birds: the Carolina Parakeet, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Heath Hen, Passenger Pigeon, Labrador Duck and the Great Auk. I imagine that this book would only be of interest to someone who has, at the least, a passing interest in birds. Although the historical context is well represented, it's still a book about birds.

The book is 336 well-written pages with about 30 or 40 black-and-white photographs and drawings. The author included a selected bibliography, index and an interesting Frequently-Asked-Questions (FAQ) style interview at the back of the book.

The only drawbacks were the very few occasions where the wonderful prose gives way to a dry, almost painful, regurgitation of historical fact. In addition there are some brief but awkward inclusions of political correctness that don't seem to fit with the overall text.

I would buy this book again without a second thought! ... Read more

Book Description

Every day, we hear alarming news about droughts, pollution, population growth, and climate change-which threaten to make water, even more than oil, the cause of war within our lifetime. Diane Raines Ward reaches beyond the headlines to illuminate our most vexing problems and tells the stories of those working to solve them: hydrologists, politicians, engineers, and everyday people. Based on ten years of research spanning five continents, Water Wars offers fresh insight into a subject to which our fate is inextricably bound. ... Read more

Book Description

From the bestselling author of The God of Small Things comes a scathing and passionate indictment of big government's disregard for the individual.

In her Booker Prize-winning novel, The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy turned a compassionate but unrelenting eye on one family in India. Now she lavishes the same acrobatic language and fierce humanity on the future of her beloved country. In this spirited polemic, Roy dares to take on two of the great illusions of India's progress: the massive dam projects that were supposed to haul this sprawling subcontinent into the modern age--but which instead have displaced untold millions--and the detonation of India's first nuclear bomb, with all its attendant Faustian bargains.

Merging her inimitable voice with a great moral outrage and imaginative sweep, Roy peels away the mask of democracy and prosperity to show the true costs hidden beneath. For those who have been mesmerized by her vision of India, here is a sketch, traced in fire, of its topsy-turvy society, where the lives of the many are sacrificed for the comforts of the few. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Dams, poverty, and nuclear insanity
This is a short but effective book. It's divided into two parts. In part one, Arundhati Roy writes about dam-building in India. This heavily-footnoted chapter gets a longer treatment in her next book, Power Politics. Here she introduces the topic, adding a lot of context to the statistics. Her outrage is palpable. This leads into the second part, and angry essay about India and Pakistan becoming part of the nuclear fraternity (both countries publicly tested nuclear weapons in May of 1998). Both countries have so many problems --- and so much tension between them over Kashmir --- that this development can only be considered a disaster for the hundreds of millions of people in the region.

Arundhati Roy is someone we should all listen to. She's an activist, novelist, and a great writer. This book is a good introduction to her work.

very compelling writing
The Cost of Living is the second book by Arundhati Roy, but is her first non fiction book. Her first book was the phenomenally good novel The God of Small Things . The Cost of Living is a collection of two essays.

The first is "The Greater Common Good" and deals with the building of the Big Dams in India (Roy is native to India and still lives there). Roy writes about some of the politics involved in the building of the dams and makes clear enormity of the human cost and the lives lost and displaced. Roy is vehemently against this ongoing project, and while this essay only presents one side of the argument, it is still a well crafted and well written and emotionally compelling argument.

The second essay is "The End of Imagination". This essay was written in 1998 shortly after India had revealed that it was doing nuclear testing. Apparently, the party line was that nuclear weaponry = patriotism = Hinduism = India. By this logic, any Indian who was not in favor of the testing was also against India itself. Flawed logic, and Roy takes the government to task focusing on nuclear testing when so much of the nation is starving, uneducated, and needs true assistance. Roy's arguments against nuclear testing are wide ranging. She discusses the fact that most of the nation is uneducated and does not know what it means to have nuclear weapons and what the negatives are. She writes against the government, lining its pockets at the expense of the nation. She writes against the United States for introducing the nuclear game to the world. The biggest loser in this game, Roy believes, is India. India believes itself to be a world player, but Roy explains the national delusion and why this is simply not the case.

This is a short, but interesting book. Roy is an excellent writer and while her thoughts skirt the extreme, she writes with a passion that cannot be ignored.

Powerful
This is the first book by Roy that I read, and my favorite. In comparison to The God of Small Things, that's saying a lot. The first essay is the most powerful and clear explanation I have ever read anywhere about the failings of organisations such as the WTO; however, it is not only an attack on international financial institutions. It also discusses the abuses that occur on a national and local level in conjunction with the work of international groups. I suggest this book to anyone who is having trouble understanding the objections to globalization and the WTO.

Aware; insightful
Contrary to her critics, I do not believe this woman can be neatly dismissed as a 'Marxist'. In many places she describes how these kind of huge, overblown, poorly considered projects are the natural result of India's huge, titularly 'socialist' bureaucracy. Like me, and unlike Noam Chomsky or others, she does not traffic in conspiracy theories. That is, she does not insist that a hidden, evil intelligence is in charge of the events she describes. Rather, she is aware of the DISorganization that naturally occurs whenever human beings get together in large groups--like militaries or bureaucracies, leftist or rightist, with good intentions or ill.

It would also be a mistake for anyone to think this book pertains only to India. As an American, I can see many of the same sorts of elements she describes: a failure to understand the links between ecology and economy; false economies (that is, technology that awes in its scale yet fundamentally degrades rather than improves human life); misplaced government priorities; rule by the courts, etc.

Roy's values and sensitivities shines
In her newest offering Arudhati Roy , the writter of the widely known and multi-awarded The God Of Small Things presents a deep , careful study on the impact " progress " has made on the life of thousands of people in her country . She describes an India with many cultural and racial entities where the goverment keeps building huge dams in the valley of Naramada with no certain strategy and essential reasons . What she seems to be asking is this : " even if these dams are useful , does it eventually worth sacrificing so many people's lifes and houses for them ? " . In the end the book wins the reader not so much because of Roy's writing style but thanks to the power of her own personallity . She's a young , beutiful and wealthy woman who never forgets though the poor part of her country's population . Instead , she keeps standing by them with her writtings and her actions . ... Read more

Book Description

This casebook provides detailed information on law and public policy. The casebook provides the tools for fast, easy, on-point research. Part ot the University Casebook Series®, it includes selected cases designed to illustrate the development of a body of law on a particular subject. Text and explanatory materials designed for law study accompany the cases. ... Read more

Book Description

From Reclamation to Sustainability tells the story of four places in the West--the Arkansas Valley and the Grand Valley of Colorado, the Truckee-Carson basins of California and Nevada, and the Yakima Basin in Washington--where development and use of water, primarily for irrigated agriculture, have been central to economic and social development.In these places (and many others), the reclamation vision that helped settle the West now competes with a vision of a sustainable West.

All four regions tell of the essential role water has played in western agriculture and the importance of this agriculture for settlement of much of the West.They also exemplify the many difficulties of turning prairie and desert into productive croplands, and MacDonnell describes the sometimes extraordinary human committment and effort that made this possible.

Now, however, western water resources have been developed beyond their sustainable capacity in an attempt to irrigate as much land as possible, and MacDonnell illustrates the consequences of this overdevelopment, including declining rural communities, dewatered streams incapable of supporting native species, and degraded water quality.He also provides examples of efforts torepair some of the damages and of the challenges involved in such restoration.

MacDonnell argues that sustainable use of the West's water resources depends on reducing the gap between diverted water and used water,restoring the functional ecological integrity of water sources, allowing uses of developed water to change, and effective collaborative public/private processes that help reconcile competing interests in water.He concludes that the manner in which the West moves toward sustainable use of its limited water resources--particularly as it affects irrigated agriculture--matters at least as much as achieving sustainable use.It matters because the choices we make will have important consequences for the future West. ... Read more

Book Description

Complete guidelines to developing and maintaining the most effective, environment-friendly irrigation systems for golf courses
Golf Course Irrigation offers valuable insight on the design, installation, management, and maintenance of irrigation systems-the most important management tool used on today's golf courses. Without manufacturers' bias, this useful resource provides hands-on guidance to the highest quality irrigation systems, including specifications and applications of the best pump stations, controllers, sprinkler heads, nozzles, valves, sensors, and other components that make the difference in top-quality irrigation systems.
Typically regarded as significant users of water, golf courses are under increasing scrutiny by governmental and environmental groups, making it essential that the up-to-date information found here-on such topics as water supply, plant irrigation requirements, application uniformity, and construction management-be at the fingertips of every golf course professional. While fostering the best playing conditions, these systems conserve water and energy with such technology as low-pressure heads and controls that use "if/then" logic to automatically adjust to changing conditions, which can improve playability while saving money.
Golf Course Irrigation is a practical tool to help golf course architects, builders, superintendents, irrigation consultants, designers, and installers to improve aesthetics and playing conditions in the face of diminishing natural resources. It is also an informative reference for golf course owners, developers, local officials, students, and fans of the game. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

What I have been waiting for!
People in my industry (golf) finally have a "Bible" to refer to when it comes to professional irrigation systems. Laid out in a basic, yet thorough format this book has it all, from good photos to useful charts and glossary. Anyone even considering installing a new system should have this book at their side. I wish I had it when our system was designed and "thrown in the ground" by a purported expert. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Lots of Prose......No nuts and bolts.
All those pages, all those words............yet if you are looking to satiate an appetite for information that will allow the building and managing of a pond...you will go hungry.

It's an average book for an average day for an average consumer, but not for construction or problem solution.
I will sell my copy or leave it as a "coffee table" book.

Sorry, but I made a bad purchase choice.

For serious pond builders
I bought this book for my husband, who has been planning the restoration for our 4+ acre pond. Many books on ponds seem to be focused on smaller water gardens, not on sizeable wetlands. This is the first truly helpful resource book that he's found. The author writes from the perspective of a conservationist, but his passion for what he's doing comes across as poetic. Extremely helpful guide for facts, resources, and the issues/challenges you're likely to encounter, as well as key environmental considerations.

It is a good start
This book is a good start to building your own pond. I would suggest it as a inexpensive first step to pond building. What I learned in my experience was there is just too much to consider when you want a high quality pond. I used a professional biologist to design my pond and got terrific results. I was happy I knew the basics from this book so I could speak somewhat intelligently with the fishery biologist. After investing tens of thousands of dollars, I learned that the small amount I spent on this book and the professional advice was well worth it. I was so happy I got a nice clear fishing and swimming pond instead of a muddy mess or one that was weed infested.

Old text and Photos
I purchased this book for instruction on new pond construction. The text was somewhat informative, but the pictures were a joke. They show pond construction using steam shovels! I sent my copy back.

Good start for pond builders!
A great book for novice pond buidlers. If you are looking to move earth or referbish an old pond or lake this book will give ideas and help to make a pond for livestock or pleasure. Some in picture detail but good basic writing in foundation. ... Read more

Book Description

This edition of its popular predecessor has been significantly revised to increase flexibility in the presentation and maintain greater continuity of the material. Combining both theory and practical applications of empirical equations the text contains expanded treatment of water quantity and quality control, a detailed presentation of basic principles and use in analysis and design, hydrograph topics including synthetic and convolution techniques, practical and realistic case studies relating to design problems, and additional end-of-chapter problems. It provides new computer programs to explain complex concepts and solve large data-based problems. An additional appendix offers suggestions for classroom or lab problems. ... Read more

Book Description

STATISTICS IN PRACTICE
A practical exploration of alternative approaches to analyzing water-related environmental issues
Written by an experienced environmentalist and recognized expert in the field, this text is designed to help water resource managers and scientists to formulate, implement, and interpret more effective methods of water quality management.
After presenting the basic foundation for using statistical methods in water resource management, including the use of appropriate hypothesis test procedures and some rapid calculation procedures, the author offers a range of practical problems and solutions on environmental topics that often arise, but are not generally covered.
These include:
* Formulating water quality standards
* Determining compliance with standards
* MPNs and microbiology
* Water-related, human health risk modeling
* Trends, impacts, concordance, and detection limits
In order to promote awareness of alternative approaches to analyzing data, both frequentist and Bayesian, statistical methods are contrasted in terms of their applicability to various environmental issues. Each chapter ends with a number of set problems for which full answers are provided. The book also encourages discussion between technical staff and management before embarking on statistical studies. ... Read more