Book Description

Water law, water politics, and especially water shenanigans are at the center of this book about New Mexico and Texas dividing the Pecos River. On one level the story is about a twenty-year court case, Texas v. New Mexico, a monstrous law suit between two states sharing a common water source, a state boundary, and a long history of mutual enmity. On another level, this story is as big and far-reaching as the high plains drained by the Pecos: it is part memoir, part biography, and part environmental history, part the history of hydrology, and part a contribution to the annals of litigation in the great tradition of Anthony Lewis and Jonathan Harr.

While High and Dry focuses on clashes of principles and personalities, especially in the courtroom, it remains very much a story about a river and its world in an arid region. There are irrigators here, including the leading “old families” of southeastern New Mexico, and there is nature here, including “the vampires of the West,” the rapacious salt cedars relentlessly sucking up the precious Pecos stream flow. But beneath them all is the author, inviting readers to see how tiny gardens grown for the soul are as crucial to the overall story as the adjudication of water rights. Hall gives a masterful summary of the legal and scientific parts of the story, but he excels in letting us feel and care about water in the same manner as do the people who use it to grow crops. “One of the best books anywhere on the heart and soul of western water, High and Dry will leave you awed and flabbergasted by the intricacy, chicanery, mystery, and good old nonstop adventure of interstate water disputes. It is a joy to read, rich in humor and quirky personalities.”—John Nichols

“A major contribution to western water law and history in the tradition of Donald Worster. High and Dry is essential reading.”—Dan Tarlock, Chicago-Kent College of Law ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Absorbing (pun intended). Book is both excellent and timely
In the Southwest, water rights are a war zone; the film "Chinatown" (with Jack Nicholson), of course, showed that the fight could even be the background for fictional excitement. This work of legal and social history is hardly a whodunit, yet the real-life battle it surveys possesses a vivid life nevertheless, in the author's highly readable prose. Hall is a law professor, so it's not surprising that he's done plenty of homework, and has mastered the facts of the story he tells. But he also writes with a humorous touch--appropriately dry (what else?)--and knows how to keep things personal too; he weaves his own experiences (as lawyer, writer, and also gardener and weekend farmer) into the story. As I write (spring, 2002), water shortages may be turning from a regional into a national phenomenon. Even if that danger abates soon, though, we can't take any environmental issues for granted any more, so a book like this has cautionary value too. Water: Gotta have it. Maybe optimists can happily relax if a glass is half-full, but we all need to apply higher standards of worry, when it's a matter of reservoirs. And the book's a wonderful read, too. ... Read more

Book Description

Since the beginning of man's existence on Earth, the adequacy of available water has been as important as any other factor for man's survival and prosperity. The volume comprises comprehensive reviews on: Paleoenvironments of arid land, climate-water-man interactions, water resources in the Minoan era, ancient Greek examples of avoiding water shortages, climatic changes in the eastern Mediterranean region since 5000 B.C., climatic evolution in ancient civilizations based on fossil studies, impact of climatic changes on groundwater and Mediterranean wetlands. The book is written for civil and agricultural engineers, hydrologists, geologists, environmental scientists and researchers. It is also useful as a reference to consulting engineers, agriculturists, environmentalists and students. ... Read more

Book Description

With 50 percent of the world's landmass covered by shared river basins, competition over water resources has always had the potential to spark violence. And the burgeoning populations and fast-developing industries of today's Third World are putting ever greater pressures on already scarce water resources.

Elhance explores the hydropolitics of six of the world's largest and most turbulent river basins. In each case, he examines the basin's physical, economic, and political geography; the possibilities for acute conflict; and efforts to develop bilateral and multilateral agreements for sharing water resources. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Looking through a magnifying lens
"This is an extraordinary "window" on six, crucial geographical areas of the world which are described as if seen through a magnifying lens. Its most outstanding feature is the presentation of an overwhelming body of data in an extremely meaningful and orderly way through a detailed yet solid historical, economic, political account and reasoning for each area. Written in a quick-paced style, it guides and traps the reader into this fascinating journey piloted by the most basic yet offended need in the world: water." ... Read more

Book Description

Drinking water problems are not new, but they are making news more and more often.It is becoming harder and harder to ignore the consequences of water pollution and the toll it takes on our health. Drinking Water Quality - Taking Responsibility addresses these problems and more. What's different about this book?Instead of

s l o w l y d r a g g i n g through endless pages of dull information...we've made it FUN and QUICK for adults to read with LARGE PRINT and COLOR PICTURES on every page! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great Book for the Average Consumer - Can Change Your Life
This easy to read and understand delivers the best and most accurate information for the average American consumer. Gives the knowledge and tools to improve your health by drinking lots of safe drinking water.

COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN - EASY TO UNDERSTAND!
If you never thought about water - think again! This easy to understand book is written with facts, charts and illustrations that make learning about water informative and fun. Colors are just brilliant and the high quality print makes it a perfect gift - give one to someone who you care about. Turning on the tap can now be a choice, as municipal water systems are set to provide volume - not health. After reading this book I decided it was my responsibility to protect my family. Filtered water, distilled water, cancer causing chemicals in YOUR water, scam water sales people and more - with all topics covered. It's a book, a reference and a work to share with your best friend. I give it Five Stars and a Double Rainbow!!

Couldn't put it down - Easy to understand!
If you never thought about water - think again! This easy to understand book is written with facts, charts, and illustrations that make learning about water informative and fun. Colors are brilliant and the high quality print makes this book a perfect gift - give it to someone who you care about. Turning on the tap can now be a choice, as municipal water systems are set to provide volume not health. After reading this book I decided it was my responsibility to protect my family. Filtered water, distilled water, cancer causing chemicals in YOUR water, scam water sales people and more - with all topics covered. It's a book, a reference and a work to share with your best friend. You'll give it five stars and double rainbow!!! ... Read more

Book Description

In the past decade, officials responsible for clean-up of contaminated groundwater have increasingly turned to natural attenuation-essentially allowing naturally occurring processes to reduce the toxic potential of contaminants-versus engineered solutions. This saves both money and headaches. To the people in surrounding communities, though, it can appear that clean-up officials are simply walking away from contaminated sites.

When is natural attenuation the appropriate approach to a clean-up? This book presents the consensus of a diverse committee, informed by the views of researchers, regulators, and community activists. The committee reviews the likely effectiveness of natural attenuation with different classes of contaminants-and describes how to evaluate the "footprints" of natural attenuation at a site to determine whether natural processes will provide adequate clean-up. Included are recommendations for regulatory change. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Dripping Dry:Literature, Politics and Water in the Desert So
Dripping Dry by David Cassuto is a 'must read' for anyone with an interest in in the hydrology of the arid West. Cassuto eloquently examines the history and literature of the reclamation movement, the development of the restoration movement, and the need to develop an alternative: sustainability. He discusses four books concerned with the history of water in the West and the links between the literature and the politics of water (Mary Austin's The Ford, John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang, and Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Dreams. In his last chapter, titled Imagining Sustainability, he expands on his vision of the possibilities of sustainability as a workable environmental approach. His vision is fresh and challenging.

Elizabeth Rush ... Read more

Amazon.com

A century ago the place where the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean was a violent cauldron of churning water, all but unnavigable. But the mighty river was tamed by the building of a series of dams, including the colossal Grand Coulee, to provide cheap hydroelectric power and irrigation water. Farms bloomed in the desert; nuclear reactors mushroomed on the river bank. Today barges ply the river, and Lewiston, Idaho, is an inland port. But the negative aspects of human impact are also apparent--the depletion of salmon stocks and the destruction of Native American cultures dependent on the salmon. Washington Post journalist Harden, a Northwest native, returns to examine the changes man has wrought. Harden's enthralling account is balanced and thorough. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Great book, great insight
Living just 80 miles south of the Columbia, Harden's book gave me an easy, detailed account of the history of the Columbia and the effects of electricity v. the life of beautiful salmon. Although Harden often blames locals for the decline in salmon, and at other times, the government, I found it to be a fair look at both sides of the story. Harden's forte is taking a Paul Harvey approach, telling the rest of the story behind the Columbia River. A great review of the pros and cons of hydroelectrics and the effects it has on not just the West Coast, but the whole nation. I learned that there is a hell of a lot of politics being played on the water. By the way, don't eat salmon, it tastes disgusting.

Readable and thought-provoking
Although the author probably is personally opposed to the dams on the Columbia, his vivid and respectful profiles of the different users of the river (the slackwater barge operator, the Indian tribe that lost its source of food when the river was dammed, the irrigation farmer, the windsurfing yuppie, the father and son who work on the Hanford cleanup) make us understand that no matter how this tricky issue is resolved, there will be a human cost. His recollection of growing up in Moses Lake, a town which owes its prosperity to the dams, adds even more credibility to his account.

Harden's device of telling the story in stages, as a trip down the river, is unobtrusive and keeps things interesting. This book will make you think and it will also treat you to some gorgeous descriptions of the Columbia.

So much good information
A full and complete modern history of the Columbia River. At times sad, always intriging. Harden has done an excellent job of combining interviews with research that makes an excellent read.

Highly recommmended.

Wonderful writing. Interesting points of view.
Once in a great while a book comes along that is so beautifully written, with stories so well told, that the subject matter seems secondary to the writer's ability to sustain interest. For me, with little interest in the northwest (I've been there twice), this was such a book. It is from Harden's exceptional skill as a writer and narrator of stories that the Columbia River suddenly became of great interest as I turned his pages.

"A River Lost" tells the story and history of the Columbia River and the environmental, economic and aesthetic impact of daming that river in the first half of the last century. Especially interesting are the stories and points of view of those who work and live on its shores, the fate of the native indians who have lived in the region for hundreds of years and the differences in culture between the Starbucks yuppies east of the Cascades and the blue collar workers so dependant on the water and its billions in federally subsidized benefits to the west.

Highly praised in reviews by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, the Village Voice, The Seattle Times and Publishers Weekly, it is a great read for the information, for the writing, for a piece of American history.

An eye opener.
I grew up in the Tri-Cities and spent the first 19 years of my life living just blocks away from the Columbia River and there was a lot of information told in this book that I never knew. Harden does a wonderful job of relating the history of the Columbia River and the effects that the many dams built on the river had on the land, the people, the nation, and the economy. I thoroughly enjoyed his story and felt he handled well the many issues important to preservationists, politicians, and farmers.

I recommend this to anyone who lives in the state of Washington and is interested in man's permanent effects on this land. ... Read more

Book Description

The Danube river is one of the world's greatest international freshwater resources. It stretches halfway across Europe and passes through 11 countries. Its catchment is shared by 17 nations, many of whom are new members of the expanded European Union. This book focuses on the disputed Gabcíkovo-Nagymaros Project on the Danube between Hungary and the Slovak Republic. It examines the history and progress of the case from the International Court of Justice to the subsequent agreement to joint monitoring and assessment of the environmental implications. ... Read more

Book Description

"Praise for previous editions The author's presentation is balanced, his references are current, and his treatment of the legal and economic aspects of water resources planning and management is particularly good . . . Well suited to the student population for which it is intended." -Environment "Provides a clear, professional, and comprehensive picture of water resources planning, and would serve as an excellent textbook or reference volume." -Professional Geographer "It covers all aspects of water resource planning and management. . . Despite the amount of ground covered, however, it is entertaining and easy to read." -The Geographical Journal ". . . Figures and tables are clear and informative. . . ." -Water Resources Bulletin The revised edition of this popular text for advanced undergraduate and introductory graduate courses offers a comprehensive survey of all aspects of water resources planning and management. The third edition includes a new chapter on stormwater runoff management and a significantly revised chapter on water resources modeling, as well as updated information on water use trends. Discussions of international trends toward water pricing, privatization, and globalization of water resources provide a look at the possible future use and management of the world's water resources. Website references are added throughout the text that provide easy access to the vast array of relevant internet information on water resources and a new appendix gives information on a number of important water resources." ... Read more

Book Description

This book provides an overview of how to establish water--human relationships by anchoring readers to a deeper understanding of the important cultural and psychological roles played by water in all our lives in terms of history, architecture, nature writing, art, environmental science and engineering, etc. By learning about how to deeply experience water through adventure, joy, contact and contemplation, readers gain wisdom about how to preserve untainted water in their own lives. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Immensely moving, thoughtful, and thought-provoking
Deep Immersion: The Experience Of Water by environmental studies respected academician and water management expert Robert Lawrence France (Harvard Design School) is a meditation on the power and profundity of water, and what it means for those individuals who embrace a close relationship with it. A spiritual reflection that is both informed and informative, Deep Immersion is an immensely moving, thoughtful, and thought-provoking postulation on the human condition and connection to the essential substance that brings life to our planet. Deep Immersion is enthusiastically recommended reading for academia as well as the non-specialist general reader with an interest in nature, the environment, and the contribution of water to diverse forms of outdoor recreations.

The Romance and Tragedy Water
If you are looking for a reference on the romance of water, as well as figures on its abuse, this is the book. It's a great book for water quotes and a review of its treatment through history but not one of the plethora of environmental alarmist books in doctoral thesis format that shout "something needs to be done by someone" without offering tools and ideas for positive change. Get this book for the water lovers in your life. It's also good for the bathroom. Restores our appreciation and reminds us of the sensuality of this basic element that we take for granted.

Chuck Harris, a landscape architect and Harvard professor emeritus who doesn't use the Web, wrote this note to me about it.
This is a remarkable, even awesome, little book. It contains so much rich references to the role of water in all of our lives, whether in the "deep past" or the "post-modern" era.

I read it entirely over the rest of the weekend. It offers a deep sense of the value and love of water in its many forms
and as it impacts all aspects of our lives from biological survival, to parts of functional systems, and, finally, to the very essence of all human's senses including BEAUTY, LOVE, and SPIRIT..

I remain in awe of the sweep of its efforts to illustrate the diverse experiences of water with almost overwhelming numbers of examples -- in quotes and paraphrases -- from all types of experiences and expressions of the remarkable qualities of WATER. ... Read more

Book Description

Set in both the arid lands of Arizona and the politicalbackdrop of Washington, D.C., Vision in the Desert documents thelife and career of longtime senator Carl Hayden. One of the mostpowerful figures in the United States Congress, Hayden centered hispublic service career around water and its distribution, and hisachievements are inseparable from the history of the West and thedevelopment of arid lands.

Carl Hayden became acquainted with reclamation and irrigation issuesat an early age through his work with his father in the Salt RiverValley. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1911, Haydenbegan a fifty-seven-year stint in the U.S. Congress, serving as aDemocratic representative in the House for fifteen years and then inthe Senate from 1927 until 1969. Issues of the development of theColorado River occupied the majority of his congressional work. The1968 authorization of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) highlightsHayden's efforts for this lifestream of the Southwest. CombiningHayden's childhood hopes and congressional endeavors, the CAPsecured future economic and population growth by making possible thedistribution of water to the growing urban and suburban areas ofPhoenix and Tucson.

Vision in the Desert binds the works of this western lawmaker to theexpansion of the American Southwest and chronicles the politics inthe region. Jack August, Jr., takes the reader on a comprehensivejourney of the politician's career-through visions of the nineteenthcentury, the accomplishments of the twentieth century, and theprobable implications for the approaching millennium. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A miracle it was!
Author Jack August tells an engrossing tale of the politics of water in the American southwest which is virtually the same as the past, present, and future of this region. Arizonan Carl Hayden became the Arizona's first congressman (when Arizona only had one congressman) upon statehood in 1912 and moved to the the U.S. Senate in 1927 where he remained until retiring in 1969. In today's era of sound bites and short attention spans, Hayden labored for decades, leading the way to first establish federal control over western water management (so the resources of the federal government would build the needed dams and other projects needed to tame and manage the area's rivers), then parceling out the rights to the water between the various states and other jurisdictions through legislation, compacts and court decisions, and finally, after it was established by the U.S. Supreme Court in "California vs Arizona" that Arizona did have rights to Colorado River water, getting the authorization and funding for the Central Arizona Project which today brings water from the Colorado River near Parker, AZ to the mushrooming metro areas of Phoenix and Tucson. August writes a technically detailed book. Its not a fast read, but I found it indispensible to understanding the past and probably future of this state which over 5.5 million people now call home.

Politics of Water Resource Management
August brings extensive expertise concerning the history of water and hydroelectric power development in the Southwestern United States. The story of water politics in the American southwest is instructive for the governments of both the United States and Canada.

Management of North America's water resource is poised to become the defining issue in Canadian-American relations in the twenty first century. Certainly, that issue will dominate trade negotiations and will precipitate fallout for the movement of other major commodities of Canadian goods into American markets.

In Arizona, water rights was topical as a political concern before the turn of the century to 1900. Central to the issue was Carl Hayden who was elected in 1911 and served in the U.S. Congress for the next 57 years; as a Democratic member of the House of Representatives until 1927 and then as a Senator from 1927 to 1969.

August reveals in this engagingly-written biography that Hayden knew from 1914 that his political future would be tied to water resource development; a thought documented as a young politician in letters to his parents. Hayden's personal papers disclose his legendary kindness in all relationships and perhaps part of the secret to his long political career.

In constructing the history, August draws out the competing interests of upper basin states with those downstream of the Colorado River, bringing in the early interest expressed by Los Angeles for electricity and water. What was involved was large scale manipulation of water in an extremely arid environment.

The protracted negotiations resulted in CAP -- the Central Arizona Project -- which put Colorado River water to thirsty agricultural areas and provided for the unimpeded development of Phoenix and Tucson by protecting them from water shortages. The bill was signed into law September 30, 1968 by President Johnson. The cost of implementation, US$1.3 billion, was the most expensive single Congressional authorization in history. Hayden considered the accomplishment the most significant contribution of his career.

The book is extensively researched and animated through interviews with Barry Goldwater and others prominent in the issue. The author has also drawn fom Johnson's presidential papers, court cases, and six decades of the Congressional Record. Some flavor of the thrust and parry of political debate has been drawn from accounts in dozens of newspapers and journals. That all of these sources have been assembled in one volume is a valuable gift to future scholars.

Evoking transportation images to bracket Hayden's working life, August reminds us that "He began his public career riding a horse and buggy to his office and ended it voting for funds that ultimately enabled him to watch people walk on the moon." No doubt, those astronauts were looking for water!

Contention over management of North American water resources has bracketed both the beginning and end of this century and will carry on well into the next. The World Bank warns us that the wars of the next century will be about water. August's prediction: "In the future, the use of water will underlie every public policy decision made in the American West." ... Read more

Book Description

This new edition of a classic text has been significantly expanded to cover the most current issues and international standards are examined in-depth, with detailed coverage of WHO, European, UK and US standards, organisations and practice. Written with the postgraduate and professional water engineer in mind, this text will also be essential reading for undergraduates studying water engineering.

COMPREHENSIVE coverage of all aspects of public water supply and treatment for a worldwide market * INCLUDES more coverage of US, European and WHO standards and practice * COVERS important current topics such as EIA and cryptosporidium outbreaks ... Read more

Book Description

In 1997, New York City adopted a mammoth watershed agreement to protect its drinking water and avoid filtration of its large upstate surface water supply. Shortly thereafter, the NRC began an analysis of the agreement's scientific validity.

The resulting book finds New York City's watershed agreement to be a good template for proactive watershed management that, if properly implemented, will maintain high water quality. However, it cautions that the agreement is not a guarantee of permanent filtration avoidance because of changing regulations, uncertainties regarding pollution sources, advances in treatment technologies, and natural variations in watershed conditions.

The book recommends that New York City place its highest priority on pathogenic microorganisms in the watershed and direct its resources toward improving methods for detecting pathogens, understanding pathogen transport and fate, and demonstrating that best management practices will remove pathogens. ... Read more