Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition
Newly updated, this timely history of the struggle to discover and control water in the American West is a tale of rivers diverted and damned, political corruption and intrigue, billion-dollar battles over water rights, and economic and ecological disaster. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award.Product Details
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
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!
From Publishers Weekly
In this stunning work of history and investigative journalism, Reisner tells the story of conflicts over water policy in the West and the resulting damage to the land, wildlife and Indians. PW stated that this "timely and important book should be required reading for all citizens."
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Dams ostensibly provide indispensable economic development through flood control, irrigation, and recreation. Goldsmith and Hildyard, with examples from throughout the world, demolish the common justifications for large dams. They advocate traditional irrigation as environmentally sound and economically beneficial. Reisner focuses more narrowly on North America in his portrayal of the personalities and agencies (e.g., Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), and the manipulation and deceit through which water policy in the United States has evolved. This policy, a form of financial vandalism of the future, has made us rich but our descendants insecure. Cadillac Desert describes serious, perhaps fatal threats to the miraculous desert civilization of the West. With different approaches, both volumes take effective aim at the vested interests that perpetuate unsound water resource development. Both volumes contain insights for the specialist and the wider public. James R. Karr, Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst., Balboa, Panama
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Customer Reviews
Great Read
This book covers an issue that many people are probably aware of but have no idea to what extent this problem reaches. Much of the Western United States, particularly the Southwest and California, is located in a desert ecosystem that gets less than 10 inches of rain per year. The chapters of this book cover a broad spectrum of topics pertaining to water problems in the west. The rapid depletion of the streams and rivers, the history of human life in the west, the environmentally harmful effect that humans have had on the hydrosphere, and the political struggles from state to state over water rights are just some of the important topics touched on by the author, Marc Reisner.
The growth of the west, especially the booming populations of Phoenix, which went from a population of 65,000 in 1940 to 439,000 in 1960 (p. 269), San Diego, and Los Angeles, which was "growing like a gourd in the night" (p. 129), caused these cities and others to depend on outside water supplies such as the Colorado River. However, this rampant river does not have enough water to support many of the surrounding states which were turning to it for irrigation needs.
The Colorado River Compact divided the river randomly for seven states to be allotted certain amounts of water. This led to a long, hard fought political struggle between the states. To add to the problem, some of the water needed to be set aside for Mexico in order to avoid legal troubles. The Colorado River became diverted every which way by multiple dams in order to bring water to many of these booming cities that probably did not belong in this arid desert in the first place. The amazing part about this water diversion is that nearly all of the water consumed goes to irrigation; 85% in California, 90% in Arizona, and in many other Western states the figure is closer to 100% (p. 9).
Throughout the 20th century, the problem concerning this lack of water was in the back of many politicians minds. At the same time, money had to be made and many people thought the need for irrigation outweighed any consequences pertaining to this loss of water. A significant ecological problem that I was previously unaware of is the salinity problem from streams and rivers when using the water to irrigate land with high salinity contents. Many of the rivers that feed the Colorado are filtered through irrigated, saline earth. When the water spreads out into a dammed lake or reservoir, much of the water is evaporated while the salt is left behind on the land. This had become a huge problem in the San Joaquin Valley in California, where this salty water is used to irrigate the crops since it is a very dry region. Once the crops are irrigated, the good water is evaporated, leaving behind the salty water which kills a lot of the crops. This is a difficult problem to solve which has an extremely large economic and ecological effect.
Another interesting section of this book covers the history of human settlement in parts of Arizona. The Hohokam was a thriving culture that consisted of approximately 400,000 people between about A.D 800 and 1400 (p. 265). Their culture is relatively unheard of by many people yet the study of their culture may have a profound effect on the people living in Arizona today. The Hohokam were sophisticated society in a variety of ways for their time, especially their irrigation techniques that helped them survive in the arid desert. However, for some reason they were suddenly wiped out around 1400, probably due to water problems. Reisner states it superbly, saying that "the disappearance of Hohokam civilization seems linked to water: they either had too little or used too much. And that is the problem that Arizona faces today."
Outstanding
This was an outstanding book. Filled with a lot of information I had only partially known, and seldom understood. The story of thousands of dams built for no reason other then to keep two Federal agencies in business. Some success and some death causing failures. A must read for anyone west of the Mississippi with a interest in the historical infrastructure of the western states despite the massive mishandling of Federal funds to aid in ecological disaster. A true study in government math at alludes us all.
Ahead of its time
This was a return engagement to "Cadillac Desert", as I had read the original in the 1980s, amazed at the time, considering it a premier example of thorough history and analysis in a subject about which few people knew much at all. What could have been a "dry" subject was actually quite gripping and informative, and fortunate to have many participants in key moments still available.
In that sense the author was ahead of his time, documenting essential history that looks all the more important twenty years later. No doubt the book would still be fresh history to many, especially if supplemented by some other source on more current topics. I can only imagine what Mr. Reisner would think of the explosive growth of Las Vegas in the barren Nevada desert in recent years.
I finally got to the revised edition and certainly feel the loss of Marc Reisner, who would have had plenty of material for another revision or two. The additional material is a plus, although it, too, has been around long enough for either edition to be a worthwhile reference.
The growth of Los Angeles and the whole situation with the Owens Valley, San Fernando Valley, William Mulholland, the Chandlers, and so on, is exceptional, and can be read almost on its own. Perhaps there is a more definitive history, with more emphasis on some individuals or some other angle. Reisner packs a punch, laying it all out bluntly, including the fraud and corruption along with social and technical aspects.
Another favorite was the early history of the unexplored West, such as John Wesley Powell's prescience and his journey down the virgin Colorado. How much the region has changed in such a short time, and how extensive were our errors.
This is a first-rate history.
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