Running Out

Running Out PDF Author: Lucas Bessire
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691216436
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Finalist for the National Book Award An intimate reckoning with aquifer depletion in America's heartland The Ogallala aquifer has nourished life on the American Great Plains for millennia. But less than a century of unsustainable irrigation farming has taxed much of the aquifer beyond repair. The imminent depletion of the Ogallala and other aquifers around the world is a defining planetary crisis of our times. Running Out offers a uniquely personal account of aquifer depletion and the deeper layers through which it gains meaning and force. Anthropologist Lucas Bessire journeyed back to western Kansas, where five generations of his family lived as irrigation farmers and ranchers, to try to make sense of this vital resource and its loss. His search for water across the drying High Plains brings the reader face to face with the stark realities of industrial agriculture, eroding democratic norms, and surreal interpretations of a looming disaster. Yet the destination is far from predictable, as the book seeks to move beyond the words and genres through which destruction is often known. Instead, this journey into the morass of eradication offers a series of unexpected discoveries about what it means to inherit the troubled legacies of the past and how we can take responsibility for a more inclusive, sustainable future. An urgent and unsettling meditation on environmental change, Running Out is a revelatory account of family, complicity, loss, and what it means to find your way back home.

Running Out

Running Out PDF Author: Lucas Bessire
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691216436
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Get Book Here

Book Description
Finalist for the National Book Award An intimate reckoning with aquifer depletion in America's heartland The Ogallala aquifer has nourished life on the American Great Plains for millennia. But less than a century of unsustainable irrigation farming has taxed much of the aquifer beyond repair. The imminent depletion of the Ogallala and other aquifers around the world is a defining planetary crisis of our times. Running Out offers a uniquely personal account of aquifer depletion and the deeper layers through which it gains meaning and force. Anthropologist Lucas Bessire journeyed back to western Kansas, where five generations of his family lived as irrigation farmers and ranchers, to try to make sense of this vital resource and its loss. His search for water across the drying High Plains brings the reader face to face with the stark realities of industrial agriculture, eroding democratic norms, and surreal interpretations of a looming disaster. Yet the destination is far from predictable, as the book seeks to move beyond the words and genres through which destruction is often known. Instead, this journey into the morass of eradication offers a series of unexpected discoveries about what it means to inherit the troubled legacies of the past and how we can take responsibility for a more inclusive, sustainable future. An urgent and unsettling meditation on environmental change, Running Out is a revelatory account of family, complicity, loss, and what it means to find your way back home.

Routledge Handbook of Water Economics and Institutions

Routledge Handbook of Water Economics and Institutions PDF Author: Kimberly Burnett
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317916247
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 524

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Book Description
Growing scarcity of freshwater worldwide brings to light the need for sound water resource modeling and policy analysis. While a solid foundation has been established for many specific water management problems, combining those methods and principles in a unified framework remains an ongoing challenge. This Handbook aims to expand the scope of efficient water use to include allocation of sources and quantities across uses and time, as well as integrating demand-management with supply-side substitutes. Socially efficient water use does not generally coincide with private decisions in the real world, however. Examples of mechanisms designed to incentivize efficient behavior are drawn from agricultural water use, municipal water regulation, and externalities linked to water resources. Water management is further complicated when information is costly and/or imperfect. Standard optimization frameworks are extended to allow for coordination costs, games and cooperation, and risk allocation. When operating efficiently, water markets are often viewed as a desirable means of allocation because a market price incentivizes users to move resources from low to high value activities. However, early attempts at water trading have run into many obstacles. Case studies from the United States, Australia, Europe, and Canada highlight the successes and remaining challenges of establishing efficient water markets.

Groundwater Management in the West

Groundwater Management in the West PDF Author: Jeffrey S. Ashley
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803242760
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
One of the greatest conundrums facing the arid western United States is the availability, use, and quality of groundwater. In large sections of the West, groundwater is the only dependable source of water for agricultural production and home consumption. Yet many of the aquifers are being depleted at a rate that will suck them dry within a century. Furthermore, dependence upon groundwater in many areas will only increase in the future. This dependence is already having serious consequences for small towns on the Great Plains. Faced with growing costs associated with deeper wells and the need for ever more advanced technology for extracting water, these towns find they lack the resources to maintain current agricultural practices. ΓΈ In this timely assessment of the West?s groundwater resources, the authors provide a detailed overview of groundwater management in the Western states. The authors present for each state the various management strategies, laws, and political realities that have made groundwater appropriation such a volatile subject. They also suggest possible difficulties that states and regions might face under current groundwater policies. By examining separate cases and viewing the West as a whole, the authors are able to identify not only the most pressing problems but also the most appropriate management techniques for protecting water supplies for future use.

New Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey

New Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey PDF Author: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Geology
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Selected Water Resources Abstracts

Selected Water Resources Abstracts PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Hydrology
Languages : en
Pages : 1162

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Water-resources Investigations Report

Water-resources Investigations Report PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Hydrology
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Bibliography of Regional Aquifer-System Analysis Program of the U.S. Geological Survey, 1978-96

Bibliography of Regional Aquifer-System Analysis Program of the U.S. Geological Survey, 1978-96 PDF Author: Ren Jen Sun
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aquifers
Languages : en
Pages : 70

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Geological Survey Professional Paper

Geological Survey Professional Paper PDF Author: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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Sustainable Communities on a Sustainable Planet

Sustainable Communities on a Sustainable Planet PDF Author:
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Geology
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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