Cadillac Desert

Cadillac Desert

Author: Marc Reisner

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 1993-06-01

Total Pages: 674

ISBN-13: 1440672822

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“I’ve been thinking a lot about Cadillac Desert in the past few weeks, as the rain fell and fell and kept falling over California, much of which, despite the pouring heavens, seems likely to remain in the grip of a severe drought. Reisner anticipated this moment. He worried that the West’s success with irrigation could be a mirage — that it took water for granted and didn’t appreciate the precariousness of our capacity to control it.” – Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times, January 20,2023 "The definitive work on the West's water crisis." --Newsweek The story of the American West is the story of a relentless quest for a precious resource: water. It is a tale of rivers diverted and dammed, of political corruption and intrigue, of billion-dollar battles over water rights, of ecological and economic disaster. In his landmark book, Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner writes of the earliest settlers, lured by the promise of paradise, and of the ruthless tactics employed by Los Angeles politicians and business interests to ensure the city's growth. He documents the bitter rivalry between two government giants, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the competition to transform the West. Based on more than a decade of research, Cadillac Desert is a stunning expose and a dramatic, intriguing history of the creation of an Eden--an Eden that may only be a mirage. This edition includes a new postscript by Lawrie Mott, a former staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, that updates Western water issues over the last two decades, including the long-term impact of climate change and how the region can prepare for the future.


Water and American Government

Water and American Government

Author: Donald J. Pisani

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2002-12-31

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 0520230302

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Donald Pisani's history of perhaps the boldest economic and social program ever undertaken in the United States, shows in fascinating detail how ambitious government programs fall prey to the power of local interest groups and the federal system of governance itself.


High and Dry

High and Dry

Author: G. Emlen Hall

Publisher: UNM Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9780826324306

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

High and Dry tells the story of a river in an arid region and the long history of litigation between Texas and New Mexico as they battle over water rights.