Western Water Made Simple

Western Water Made Simple PDF Author: Ed Marston
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 9780933280397
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
A lively account of the most pressing issues facing Western water.

Western Water Made Simple

Western Water Made Simple PDF Author: Ed Marston
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 9780933280397
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
A lively account of the most pressing issues facing Western water.

Western Water Made Simple

Western Water Made Simple PDF Author:
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 9780933280397
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A lively account of the most pressing issues facing Western water.

Science Be Dammed

Science Be Dammed PDF Author: Eric Kuhn
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816540055
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Science Be Dammed is an alarming reminder of the high stakes in the management—and perils in the mismanagement—of water in the western United States. It seems deceptively simple: even when clear evidence was available that the Colorado River could not sustain ambitious dreaming and planning by decision-makers throughout the twentieth century, river planners and political operatives irresponsibly made the least sustainable and most dangerous long-term decisions. Arguing that the science of the early twentieth century can shed new light on the mistakes at the heart of the over-allocation of the Colorado River, authors Eric Kuhn and John Fleck delve into rarely reported early studies, showing that scientists warned as early as the 1920s that there was not enough water for the farms and cities boosters wanted to build. Contrary to a common myth that the authors of the Colorado River Compact did the best they could with limited information, Kuhn and Fleck show that development boosters selectively chose the information needed to support their dreams, ignoring inconvenient science that suggested a more cautious approach. Today water managers are struggling to come to terms with the mistakes of the past. Focused on both science and policy, Kuhn and Fleck unravel the tangled web that has constructed the current crisis. With key decisions being made now, including negotiations for rules governing how the Colorado River water will be used after 2026, Science Be Dammed offers a clear-eyed path forward by looking back. Understanding how mistakes were made is crucial to understanding our contemporary problems. Science Be Dammed offers important lessons in the age of climate change about the necessity of seeking out the best science to support the decisions we make.

The Politics of Western Water

The Politics of Western Water PDF Author: Stephen C. Sturgeon
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 081655093X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
As the Democratic congressman from Colorado's Fourth District from 1949 to 1973, Wayne Aspinall was an advocate of natural resource development in general and reclamation projects in particular. A political loner, considered crusty and abrasive, he carved a national reputation by helping secure the passage of key water legislation—in the process clashing with colleagues and environmentalists alike. Fiercely protective of western Colorado's water supply, Aspinall sought to secure prosperity for his district by protecting its share of Colorado River water through federal reclamation projects, and he made this goal the centerpiece of his congressional career. He became chair of the House Interior Committee in 1959 and ruled it with an iron fist for more than a dozen years—a role that placed him in a key position to shape the nation's natural resource legislation at a time when the growing environmental movement was calling for a sharp change in policy. This full-length study of Aspinall's importance to reclamation in the West clarifies his role in influencing western water policy. By focusing on Aspinall's congressional career, Stephen Sturgeon provides a detailed account of the political machinations and personal foibles that shaped Aspinall's efforts to implement water reclamation legislation in support of Colorado's Western Slope, along the way shedding new light on familiar water controversies. Sturgeon meticulously traces the influences on Aspinall's thinking and the arc of his career, examining the congressman's involvement in the Colorado River Storage Project bill and his clash with conservationists over the proposed Echo Park Dam; recounting the fight over the Frying Pan-Arkansas Project and his decision to support diverting water out of his own district; and exploring the battles over the Central Arizona Project, in which Aspinall fought not only environmentalists but also other members of Congress. Finally he assesses the Aspinall legacy, including the still-disputed Animas-La Plata Project, and shows how his vision of progress shaped the history of western water development. The Politics of Western Water portrays Aspinall in human terms, not as a pork-barrel politician but as a representative who believed he was protecting his constituents' interests. It is an insightful account of the political, financial, and personal variables that affect the course by which water resource legislation is conceived, supported, and implemented—a book that is essential to understanding the history and future of water in the West.

Where Land and Water Meet

Where Land and Water Meet PDF Author: Nancy Langston
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295989831
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
Water and land interrelate in surprising and ambiguous ways, and riparian zones, where land and water meet, have effects far outside their boundaries. Using the Malheur Basin in southeastern Oregon as a case study, this intriguing and nuanced book explores the ways people have envisioned boundaries between water and land, the ways they have altered these places, and the often unintended results. The Malheur Basin, once home to the largest cattle empires in the world, experienced unintended widespread environmental degradation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After establishment in 1908 of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge as a protected breeding ground for migratory birds, and its expansion in the 1930s and 1940s, the area experienced equally extreme intended modifications aimed at restoring riparian habitat. Refuge managers ditched wetlands, channelized rivers, applied Agent Orange and rotenone to waterways, killed beaver, and cut down willows. Where Land and Water Meet examines the reasoning behind and effects of these interventions, gleaning lessons from their successes and failures. Although remote and specific, the Malheur Basin has myriad ecological and political connections to much larger places. This detailed look at one tangled history of riparian restoration shows how—through appreciation of the complexity of environmental and social influences on land use, and through effective handling of conflict—people can learn to practice a style of pragmatic adaptive resource management that avoids rigid adherence to single agendas and fosters improved relationships with the land.

Water is for Fighting Over

Water is for Fighting Over PDF Author: John Fleck
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1610916794
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
"Illuminating." --New York Times WIRED's Required Science Reading 2016 When we think of water in the West, we think of conflict and crisis. Yet despite decades of headlines warning of mega-droughts, the death of agriculture, and the collapse of cities, the Colorado River basin has thrived in the face of water scarcity. John Fleck shows how western communities, whether farmers and city-dwellers or U.S. environmentalists and Mexican water managers, actually have a promising record of conservation and cooperation. Rather than perpetuate the myth "Whiskey's for drinkin', water's for fightin' over," Fleck urges readers to embrace a new, more optimistic narrative--a future where the Colorado continues to flow.

Sky's Witness

Sky's Witness PDF Author: C. L. Rawlins
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1466882417
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 427

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Book Description
Thoreau joked that he was a "self-appointed inspector of snowstorms and rainstorms," never dreaming that such a need might exist. But such is the author's work and that of his various helpers, from ski bums to shortstops. They travel the alpine wilderness at all seasons by touring skis , snowshoes, pack llamas, float-tubes, and a tiny but dependable rat. The remove mountain beauty, "where thoughts stretch for miles and days," would be enough, but C.L. Rawlins is after something more. He's a backcountry hydrologist, collecting rain, snow, and the water of high lakes to measure air pollution. Alongside Rawlins we discover the natural history of the central Rockies, the flowering of plants, and the ways of mountain animals. We learn how the Shoshoni lived in this harsh country before the arrival of settlers. We see also the effect of twentieth-century living on a wilderness that feels pristine but bears the chemical trace of distant smokestacks and freeways. With a style that roams between natural observation and personal essay, Rawlins's Sky's Witness gives access not only to the wilderness but to the ways in which we know ourselves.

Oh, Give Me a Home

Oh, Give Me a Home PDF Author: Ann Ronald
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806137995
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
A realistic but nostalgic look at the land that is as much a state of mind as it is an actual place examines what it means to be a westerner today and how present actions are shaping the landscapes, institutions, culture, and potential of the American West for future generations. Original.

Global Science

Global Science PDF Author: John W. Christensen
Publisher: Kendall Hunt
ISBN: 9780787290108
Category : Earth sciences
Languages : en
Pages : 988

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Book Description


The War for America's Natural Resources

The War for America's Natural Resources PDF Author: William R. Nester
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 134925553X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
Throughout most of American history, natural resource policies reflected the dominant philosophy of cornucopianism. As conservationism and environmentalism arose to struggle with cornucopianism for mass public acceptance, so too did the policies that flowed from those respective philosophies. The result has increasingly been a range of federal policies which reflect aspects of all three conflicting philosophies. The War for America's Natural Resources analyzes the dynamic among natural resource politics, policies and philosophies. Each chapter explores in-depth the development of policies toward America's soil, wildlife, water, energy, grasslands, minerals, forests and air.