Reviews (2)

Creating Massachusetts
Have you ever wondered why the state of Massachusetts can now support such a high population density? Have our periodic droughts ever piqued your curiosity as to where the water for the city of Boston comes from, when the towns around it must observe water restrictions? What happened to the cholera-laden wells that used to water Massachusetts and keep its population down? This professional report to the people details step-by-step the razing of the pleasant town of Enfield and the creation of a 10-mile-long reservoir in the former Swift River Valley. One accidental effect was the restoration of a wilderness area to which the eagles, long gone from massachusetts, have returned.

A wonderful look at complex human/environmental interaction
This small paperback offers a surprisingly detailed look at the history behind the creation of the Quabbin Reservior, created in the 1930s in Western Massachusetts to supply Boston with drinking water. It also takes a look at the state of the reservoir today, which has become an oasis of carefully-managed wilderness in the midst of thickly-settled central New England. Despite a subject that could lead a writer to academia-inspired pedantry, it has an almost storybook quality that makes it as pleasurable to read as it is informative. For anyone interested in a WPA-era tale of a massive, government-sponsored public works project, or with an interest in the politics of environmental preservation and manipulation, it's a good investment. ... Read more

Book Description

Irrigation-induced salinity seriously threatens the future of sustainable agriculture worldwide. This paper examines the causes of salinity and its rapid increase in various countries. It discusses ways in which farmers, governments, and donor agencies can deal more effectively with the salinity crisis.

Irrigation-related salinity can degrade areas far beyond agricultural sites. The paper describes how saline water discharged into rivers affects downstream waterways and crosses international borders. The author reviews the effects of poorly managed and constructed irrigation canals and drainage systems and inefficient water use by farmers.

The author argues that these technical problems frequently stem from government policies that lead to inefficient water use. In support of this view, she surveys poor management by irrigation authorities and pricing policies that undervalue water resources.

The paper describes irrigation projects that are designed for short-term benefits but which can hinder sustained productivity and lead to environmental damage. It explains how to judge prospective irrigation projects better, and how to select projects that will be profitable and environmentally sound.

A three-pronged approach to reducing salinity is suggested by the author. Governments would have to commit to a policy of sound water management, fostering an economic environment promoting efficient use of resources. Agricultural strategies should promote improved production methods, especially with regard to efficient water use. And environmental impact must be a criterion for the design and selection of projects that use water. ... Read more

Download Description

Cooperative management, and development of Africa ' s international rivers holds real promise for greater sustainability, and productivity of the continent ' s increasingly scarce water resources, and fragile environment. Moreover, the potential benefits of cooperative water resources management, can serve as catalysts for broader regional cooperation, economic integration, and development - and even conflict prevention. But riparians will pursue joint action only when they expect to receive greater benefits through cooperation than through unilateral action. Economic analysis can be used to make the case for cooperation on international rivers, using tools that will help identify, and measure the potential incremental benefits of cooperation, determine the distribution of benefits among riparians, and assess the feasibility, and fairness of alternative management, and investment scenarios. Where such schemes yield benefit distributions, nor perceived as equitable among riparians, economic tools could also be used to calculate, design, and implement arrangements for redistribution. In all of these ways, economics can play an important role in enabling the management of international rivers, helping to motivate, design, and implement cooperative water resources management. ... Read more

Book Description

Cyanobacteria and their toxins are an increasing global public health menace. Most recently, problems have been experienced in the US, Australia, The contributors, all leading experts in their fields examine the increasing need to protect drinking water and water resources from the hazards of Cyanobacteria and their impact on health. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Toxic Cyanobacteria in Water-from beginners to advanced
I would recomend this book to anyone looking for a comprehensive and easy to read text about toxic cyanobacteria. Chorus and Bartram have managed to fit together a great deal of very informative notes by many different authors in a format that progresses naturally from basic concepts of cyanobacteria and their helpful/harmful effects to what can be done to monitor, and manage them. Wheter you are just becoming interested in cyanobacteria or lake health, or have been studying it for many years, this book should be part of your collection. The section on analytical methods for cyanobacteria provide excellent basic methodology in this area, but anyone wishing to undertake detailed analysis not from scratch would also be well off searching published methods in scientific journals as they will not find all the nitty gritty details they will need.

A comprehensive and useful book on toxic cyanobacteria
This publication is useful to professionals dealing with problems related to Harmful Algal Blooms, including public health, water supply and management staff, since it discusses monitoring programmes and criteria for different water uses (drinking water, recreational uses, organisms consumption, haemodialysis), as well as a thorough discussion on remedial measures. It is essential to environment control officers, and because it was published on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO) it can be used as an official advice for countries lacking specific legislation on the subject. It is useful as well for undergraduate and graduate students as its introduction and initial chapters present a summary on cyanobacteria and its ecology (diversity, distribution, related environmental factors) and physiology. It then presents the different toxins produced by these organisms and their consequences to human health as well as a discussion on safe levels and safe practices for each water use. This book discusses the importance of this problem worldwide, through several case studies and was produced by a group of well known researchers from various continents. Some issues and events are discussed in several self-explained boxes within the publication, which are intelligible and useful. The final chapters discuss risk management, monitoring programmes, field work, sampling and analytical methodology, including phytoplankton, clorophyll a and nutrients analysis, essential for those concerned with hazard identification and evaluation. This book is also interesting to everyone concerned with water quality and environmental issues, for cyanobacteria blooms are a widespread problem which results of excessive nutriet loads on water bodies, mostly because of inadequate land use and inefficient water quality policies. Ultimately its remediation depends on public awareness.

A comprehensive publication on toxic cyanobacteria
This publication is useful to professionals dealing with problems related to Harmful Algal Blooms, including public health, water supply and management staff, since it discusses monitoring programmes and criteria for different water uses (drinking water, recreational uses, organisms consumption, haemodialysis), as well as a thorough discussion on remedial measures. It is essential to environment control officers, and because it was published on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO) it can be used as an official advice for countries lacking specific legislation on the subject. It is useful as well for undergraduate and graduate students as its introduction and initial chapters present a summary on cyanobacteria and its ecology (diversity, distribution, related environmental factors) and physiology. It then presents the different toxins produced by these organisms and their consequences to human health as well as a discussion on safe levels and safe practices for each water use. This book discusses the importance of this problem worldwide, through several case studies and was produced by a group of well known researchers from various continents. Some issues and events are discussed in several self-explained boxes within the publication, which are intelligible and useful. The final chapters discuss risk management, monitoring programmes, field work, sampling and analytical methodology, including phytoplankton, clorophyll a and nutrients analysis, essential for those concerned with hazard identification and evaluation. This book is also interesting to everyone concerned with water quality and environmental issues, for cyanobacteria blooms are a widespread problem which results of excessive nutriet loads on water bodies, mostly because of inadequate land use and inefficient water quality policies. Ultimately its remediation depends on public awareness. ... Read more

Book Description

An essential, up-to-date and economically priced source of information on all aspects of water engineering and technology. Emphasis is placed on the needs of poorer communities and on the importance of environmental sustainability.

The entries cover the many facets of water engineering and technology including: water supplies for urban and rural communities, wastewater systems, water resources, hydrology, irrigation, river improvement, drainage, erosion, groundwater exploration, hydrography, flood protection, hydraulic machines, dams and water power.

The dictionary is designed to meet the needs of engineers, technicians and students. It offers down-to-earth guidance for all those involved in sustainable development programs, from planners to field workers.

The key features of the dictionary include:

* clear and spacious layout for easy reference and reading * 3500 terms, clearly defined * numerous key terms explained more fully * cross-references to associated and alternative terms * illustrations help clarify more complex terms, equipment and structures

Available both as a paperback field edition and in a hardback library edition ... Read more

Book Description

Water quality is essential to the welfare of humans and aquaticecosystems. The study of water quality draws information from avariety of disciplines including chemistry, biology, mathematics,physics, engineering, and resource management. University training inwater quality often is limited to specialized courses in engineering,ecology, and fisheries curricula. Therefore, many professionals whoneed a basic understanding of water quality are not formally trainedin the subject. Water Quality: An Introduction provides anin-depth but relatively simple treatment of water quality, including adiscussion of basic physical, chemical, and biological principles.Effort has been made to use physical and chemical principles toexplain the factors controlling the quality of natural waters.Water Quality: An Introduction is an excellent text for ageneral course in water quality or as a guide for self-study. ... Read more

Book Description

A comprehensive charting of the global water industry.

In the next ten minutes, forty children around the world will have died because they didn't have enough clean water or sanitation facilities.

In the world today, over a billion people lack safe drinking water. As tension mounts between states competing for diminished supplies of "blue gold," the global water industry is expected to become a trillion-dollar-a-year operation within a decade.

Up until now, no single publication has given shape and meaning to statistics about water use, re-use, and control. With a range of maps of startling clarity and richness of detail, The Water Atlas brings together the latest findings to show water distribution worldwide, the real cost of use in water-rich countries, and the dangers of a future where privatization and profit dictate availability. The atlas covers a wide range of topics, from consumption and scarcity to areas of political tension and looming catastrophes. Including detailed profiles of vulnerable regions—such as California, the Middle East, and India—as well as bold summaries of the global picture, The Water Atlas will be a unique resource for general readers as well as health professionals, advocates, and students. ... Read more

Book Description

Water sustains life: without it, humans cannot survive for more than a few days. And yet this precious fluid is becoming increasingly politicized as the debates about control and ownership of water itself, and of the many organizations which govern its use, gain force. Maggie Black explores the many roles water plays in human life and, as the defense of water rights looks set to become an explosive issue, provides a clear overview on the vital issues of distribution, technology, irrigation, land use and commodification. ... Read more

Amazon.com

William Smythe, a Southern California booster, was not alone when in 1900 he expressed his hope that "the great brown waste which lies on the borders of two republics... will some time be as densely populated as the lands of the Nile, as rich in industry as the Kingdom of Holland."

A century later, the coastal desert of Southern California has indeed become a rich and populous place. The interior desert, however, along the U.S.-Mexico border, is as empty and poor as ever. Historian William deBuys and photographer Joan Myers explore that country, its virtual capital the salt-choked Salton Sea, in the pages of this fine book, which offers a deeply learned but readable study of the politics of water and land use in the arid Southwest. DeBuys remarks that for Europeans and Americans the land has always seemed a geographic tabula rasa, subject to making and remaking, a landscape in which dreams can come true--one of them being to remake an unforgiving desert into an agricultural treasure house. Those dreams, however, can turn into nightmares, as speculations fail and dunes reclaim what is rightfully theirs--for, as deBuys notes, "in low places consequences collect." Desert rats and students of California history will find many rewards in these pages. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (8)

A Tale of a Magnificent Disaster
I visited the Salton Sea to photograph birds and found it impossible to describe, telling friends they had to go there themselves to experience the place and the people. Now I tell them to read this book. From the creation of the Sea to the creation of Salvation Mountain, deBuys tells it's colorful history in a prose that fills you with the sounds and smells and people of the Sea and Imperial Valley. Anyone with an interest in man's unlimited folly, vision, corruption, and the coming environmental train-wreck in southern California needs to read this book.

What Every Member of Congress Should Know...
Bravo! Salt Dreams is the first of its kind to wrap up all of the issues surrounding the Salton Sea and Colorado River delta in one volume. The best since Cadillac Desert in its cinematic portrayal of a complicated host of issues. Awesome writing on the heroism of US Fish and Wildlife staff. My only criticism is that Congressman George Brown is slighted; Sonny Bono often called him "Mr. Salton Sea". Certainly, a book Mr. Brown would have loved.

Reclamation/Folly in the Desert
Superlative read revealing the vast natural beauty of the desert and its inhabitants and man's irreversable errors in judging it as a fallen Eden. Together with Cadillac Desert it ranks as a southwest water classic. Beautiful writing and stunning photographs.

Yet another award for SALT DREAMS
•Winner of the 2000 Norris and Carol Hundley Award from The Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association.

SALT DREAMS wins major awards
•Winner of the 1999 Western States Book Award for Creative Non-Fiction. •Winner of the 1999 Clements Prize for the Best Non-Fiction Book on Southwestern America. ... Read more

Book Description

One of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century is to develop a means of satisfying the water demands of an ever-expanding human population while at the same time protecting the aquatic ecosystems and ecological services upon which all life depends.

Achieving Sustainable Freshwater Systems brings together experts from a wide range of disciplines to present key insights and information on sustainable freshwater systems. Contributors represent a variety of perspectives and expertise, helping to illuminate the multiple connections and concerns involved with freshwater systems. Throughout they focus on the idea that freshwater systems lie at the heart of many different environmental and societal concerns. Achieving sustainability will require a heightened understanding of the connections among those concerns, and a willingness for experts and stakeholders to work together across areas of interest.

For both scientists and managers, Achieving Sustainable Freshwater Systems represents an important new resource for formulating site-specific solutions to problems involving natural resource sustainability. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An excellent and timely collection
The collaborative editorial effort of Marjorie M. Holland (Director of the Center for Water and Wetland Resources, University of Mississippi - Oxford); Elizabeth R. Blood (Research Scientist at the J. W. Jones Ecological Research Center, Newton, Georgia); and Lawrence R. Shaffer (Biology Instructor, Northwest Mississippi Community College and Adjunct Faculty Member, Department of Biology, University of Mississippi), Achieving Sustainable Freshwater Systems: A Web Of Connections is a informed and informative collection of erudite essays from diverse authors and specialists studying the problems that beset freshwater ecosystems and addressing the means to deal with the thorny issues concerning environmental preservation. From regional water strategies; to the history of wetlands laws; to wetland restoration and forestry, Achieving Sustainable Freshwater Systems is an excellent and timely collection which is especially recommended for inclusion into academic and governmental Environmental Studies reference collections -- especially for those wanting to directly address contemporary Freshwater Systems remedial and restoration issues. ... Read more

Book Description

Describes and interprets the history of water resource development and its relationship to urban development in Phoenix, Tucson, and Flagstaff. Kupel challenges many of the traditional assumptions of environmental history by revealing that the West's aridity has had relatively little impact on the development of municipal water infrastructure in these cities.He takes readers from the era of private water service to municipal ownership of utilities and shows that, while urban growth in the West is often characterized as the product of elite groups, the development of Arizona's cities reflect the broad aspirations of all their citizens. ... Read more

Book Description

Water for Gotham tells the spirited story of New York's evolution as a great city by examining its struggle for that vital and basic element--clean water. Drawing on primary sources, personal narratives, and anecdotes, Gerard Koeppel demonstrates how quickly the shallow wells of Dutch New Amsterdam were overwhelmed, leaving the English and American city beleaguered by filth, epidemics, and fires. This situation changed only when an outside water source was finally secured in 1842--the Croton Aqueduct, a model for urban water supplies in the United States.

As the fertile wilderness enjoyed by the first Europeans in Manhattan vanishes and the magnitude of New York's water problem grows, the reader is introduced to the plans of Christopher Colles, builder of the first American steam engine, and of Joseph Browne, the first to call for a mainland water source for this island-city. In this vividly written true-life fable of the "Fools of Gotham," the chief obstacle to the aqueduct is the Manhattan Company. Masterminded by Aaron Burr, with the complicity of Alexander Hamilton and other leading New Yorkers, the company was a ruse, serving as the charter for a bank--today's Chase Manhattan. The cholera epidemic of 1832 and the great fire three years later were instrumental in forcing the city's leaders to finally unite and regain New York's water rights.

Koeppel's account of the developments leading up to the Croton Aqueduct reveals it as a triumph not only of inspired technology but of political will. With over forty archival photographs and drawings, Water for Gotham demonstrates the deep interconnections between natural resource management, urban planning, and civic leadership. As New York today retakes its waterfront and boasts famous tap water, this book is a valuable reminder of how much vision and fortitude are required to make a great city function and thrive. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

a simple compound for a complex city
Gerard Koeppel has done a remarkable job of ferretng out material and documents which demonstrate how long it took, how much cash it took, how much politicking it took to get the simple compound H2O to complex NYC. I don't mean to be glib about this. As one reviewer has noted, Manhattan without fresh supplies of water would've been another unliveable coastal town.

Just like DeWitt Clinton's Erie Canal brought goods in and out of the city, the many visionaries (Burr[for politicial and banking reasons] and Colden [for practical reasons]) gave the city an enormous insurance policy for its future which is difficult to ignore.

This book is a compelling dedication to the people who saw the need for the reservoir system and made it a reality. Sometimes the book gets bogged down with details, but that's to be expected. What wasn't expected, by this reader, was the author's perserverance and dedication to this important matter, and for that he deserves the highest accolades.

Rocco Dormarunno, author of THE FIVE POINTS, and THE FIVE POINTS CONCLUDED, A Novel

Water for Gotham Illustrates the Folly of Public Officials
The book illustrates the folly of trusting our elected officials. How often did they use a public fear to enrich their own pockets? The sordid ancestory of the Chase Manahattan Bank is a case in point that Gerard Koepell, a person who I shared classrooms with when we were growing up, brings out particularly well. The point of history is for us to learn from our collective experiences and Gerard lays it all out for us. Gerard points out that at first no one knew about cholera and it's relationship to contaminated water. I had no idea that well into the 1800s people from New York had no running water or toilets and used the streets as their "trash" depositories. What else did the book teach me? Politicians in the past had no stomach for a long-term project or long-term thinking ... Politicians were/are corrupt and weak-minded and despite the huge legislative bodies, politicians are overwhelmed and the real laws and decisions are made by 1 or 2 people and everyone else is, at best, a yes-person. The status quo is often very comfortable. In old New York, beer was a relatively safe drink because of the brewing process (ie boiling) and New York had great economic incentive to keep people drinking beer instead of water. What are the present day unrecognized-evils? Air quality? I worry that the tremendous rise in urban asthma will eventually transform into an increased risk of lung cancer, even in the non-smokers. What interests are happy with the status quo of our air? Automobile manufacturers? Oil companies? The Advertising Industry? The Media? The Pharmaceutical Industry? Anyway the book is great food for thought. Gramatically some of the sentences, particularly in the early chapters are attention grabbing gems. And that is from someone who was hit with a tennis raquet by the author. Good work Gerard! END

Water For Gotham
It is about time that an in-depth book on the subject of New York's water supply was completed. The author has done a fabulous job of putting a highly readable work together that brings to life a period we rarely think about and a topic hardly considered in our hurried modern lives. Reality, however, is that New York without water would be just another coastal town. Those interested in a photographic history of the same topic should seek The Croton Dams and Aqueduct which will be publihsed by Arcadia Press in August of 2000.

A new book tells the epic tale of Old New York
When we turn on the tap we take it for granted that pure and wholesome water is supposed to come out. For Americans in the early 1800's, the supply of fresh water to New York City was an achievement on the order of the moon landing in our era -- carrying a river for 40 miles through hills and valleys and across rivers to a desperate island city.

The amazing story of New York's water supply has long been known to historians, infrastructure buffs and residents of the Westchester villages through which the beautiful Old Croton Aqueduct still passes. Gerard Koeppel's new book, Water for Gotham: a History, makes this story accessible to all.

Unlike previous works on the subject, which have emphasized the engineering accomplishments of the Croton Aqueduct, this book explores New York City's social and political history with a liveliness and wit that make the turbulent decades following the American Revolution come to life. Experience the terror of cholera and great fires, the antics of scoundrels and demagogues, and the heights of idealism, dedication and genius that are all intertwined in this epic tale.

Mr. Koeppel's book is impressively researched and is a true contribution to our understanding of New York history. That a work of non-fiction is so lively and engrossing is another reminder that truth is stranger than fiction. ... Read more

Book Description

Finding "streams in the desert" has never been more urgent for the peoples of the Middle East. Rapid population growth and a rising standard of living are driving water demand inexorably upward, while the natural supply has not increased since Biblical times. Ensuring a fair and adequate distribution of water in the region is vitally important for building a lasting peace among the nations of the Middle East.Addressing water needs from a geographical perspective, the contributors to this book analyze and assess the impact of scarce water resources in the Jordan River basin countries and territories (Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria) as these long-time antagonists work toward peace. After geographical and historical overviews, the authors envision the future--what the water issues may be when Israel and Syria begin negotiating, the "hydro-security" needs of each nation, and the difficulties of planning for uncertainty. Without proposing any one ideal scheme, they discuss the possibilities for cooperative sharing of water resources, while honestly acknowledging the political constraints that may limit such projects. The final essay speaks to the needs of the one party so rarely represented at the negotiating table--the Jordan River itself. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Honest and frightening vision of politics & technology
Robert Bourassa has set out his thesis as to why he set about to built one of the largest mega-projects in North America.Addressed to americans, Mr. Bourassa wants us to know why America should buy its electric power fromQuebec. It is a transparent attempt to justify a pointless developmentproject. Even more amazing is the chapter he throws into the middle of thebook outlining a scheme to dam the James Bay and canal fresh water to thesouthwestern united states.You have to give him credit for audacity. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Ships in the night: water experts and the Middle East.
This witty and wide-ranging book looks at the geographical, religious, cultural, legal and above all political aspects of water in the Middle East. It's a brilliant and wide-ranging explanation of why national water insecurity is simply not recognised there. And Allan argues that it does not, in fact, exist: although the area has run out of water, it imports it invisibly in the form of grain - a rescue system which cannot, for domestic political reasons, be acknowledged. Along the way he exposes the arrogance of western water experts who think they can solve water problems in developing countries by advocating economic rationalism without taking account of the history and politics of the countries they advise (or the economic irrationality of their own nations). Little wonder that their solutions are not adopted by local power elites who think they are self-serving and ill-informed. Water is a contentious issue, says Allan, but only one part of the larger political relationships between countries. It will be the subject of dispute when that is politically expedient, but has hardly ever been in the past, and will be even less so in the future, a sufficient cause for war. This book puts all the "water wars" books into the shade. Its sophistication shows up the superficiality of narrow analyses that don't take account of global influences on local situations. It recognises that facts are what the powerful choose to see. Allan argues that, as countries develop socio-economically, they will be able to make policy changes that will make more efficient and effective use of water, as Israel already has. Only when an economy is strong and diverse can it support re-allocation of water from agriculture. He thinks there will be enough water to sustain the growing world population - and he has an entertaining and erudite analysis to convince the reader he's right. ... Read more