Author: Robert Jerome Glennon
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1597267872
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 329
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Book Description
The Santa Cruz River that once flowed through Tucson, Arizona is today a sad mirage of a river. Except for brief periods following heavy rainfall, it is bone dry. The cottonwood and willow trees that once lined its banks have died, and the profusion of birds and wildlife recorded by early settlers are nowhere to be seen. The river is dead. What happened? Where did the water go. As Robert Glennon explains in Water Follies, what killed the Santa Cruz River -- and could devastate other surface waters across the United States -- was groundwater pumping. From 1940 to 2000, the volume of water drawn annually from underground aquifers in Tucson jumped more than six-fold, from 50,000 to 330,000 acre-feet per year. And Tucson is hardly an exception -- similar increases in groundwater pumping have occurred across the country and around the world. In a striking collection of stories that bring to life the human and natural consequences of our growing national thirst, Robert Glennon provides an occasionally wry and always fascinating account of groundwater pumping and the environmental problems it causes. Robert Glennon sketches the culture of water use in the United States, explaining how and why we are growing increasingly reliant on groundwater. He uses the examples of the Santa Cruz and San Pedro rivers in Arizona to illustrate the science of hydrology and the legal aspects of water use and conflicts. Following that, he offers a dozen stories -- ranging from Down East Maine to San Antonio's River Walk to Atlanta's burgeoning suburbs -- that clearly illustrate the array of problems caused by groundwater pumping. Each episode poses a conflict of values that reveals the complexity of how and why we use water. These poignant and sometimes perverse tales tell of human foibles including greed, stubbornness, and, especially, the unlimited human capacity to ignore reality. As Robert Glennon explores the folly of our actions and the laws governing them, he suggests common-sense legal and policy reforms that could help avert potentially catastrophic future effects. Water Follies, the first book to focus on the impact of groundwater pumping on the environment, brings this widespread but underappreciated problem to the attention of citizens and communities across America.
Author: Jacob Blanc
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816537143
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 345
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Book Description
"A transnational approach to the history of a key Latin American border region"--Provided by publisher.
Author: S. A. Leake
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Groundwater
Languages : en
Pages : 56
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Book Description
Author: Michael C. Meyer
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816515950
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 228
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Book Description
When Spanish conquistadores marched north from Mexico's interior, they encountered one harsh reality that eclipsed all others: the importance of water in an arid land. Covering a time when legal precedents were being set for many water rights laws, this study contributes much to an understanding of the modern Southwest, especially disputes involving Indian water rights. The paperback edition includes a new afterword by the author which discusses the results of recent research.
Author: Petri Juuti
Publisher: IWA Publishing
ISBN: 1780409761
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 254
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Book Description
Resilient Water Services and Systems: The Foundation of Well-Being provides an overarching framework on water and sanitation services and how they are coping with resilience, aging infrastructure and climate change. The Editors present conceptual evidence about resilience backed by case studies that demonstrate resilience in practice. There are 13 case studies, from Asia, Africa, Europe and North and South America, providing informative perspectives from around the world. This is a timely collection of historic and contemporary evidence that will have increasing relevance in the coming decades. This volume will be of relevance to both scholars and practitioners. “Resilient water services are the key to water security across the world. Sustaining them is a challenging task in high-income countries where aging infrastructure is a critical issue, and in low-income countries where new infrastructure is needed and ability-to-pay is a more formidable barrier to success. The editors have compiled a succinct analysis and assembled case studies that cover diverse regions and contexts. From this book the reader will gain a wealth of knowledge about water services, as well as rich vicarious experiences from the cases.
Author: Douglas E. Kupel
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816549885
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 320
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Book Description
Cities in the arid West would not be what they are today without water and the technology needed to deliver it to users. The history of water development in Arizona goes hand in hand with the state's economic growth, and Arizona's future is inextricably tied to this scarce resource. Fuel for Growth describes and interprets the history of water resource development and its relationship to urban development in Arizona's three signature cities: Phoenix, Tucson, and Flagstaff. These three urban areas could hardly be more different: a growth-oriented metropolis, an environmentally conscious city with deep cultural roots, and an outdoor-friendly mountain town. Despite these differences, their community leaders and public officials have taken similar approaches to developing water resources with varying degrees of success and acceptance. Douglas Kupel has created a new vision of water history based on the Arizona experience. He challenges many of the traditional assumptions of environmental history by revealing that the West's aridity has had relatively little impact on the development of municipal water infrastructure in these cities. While urban growth in the West is often characterized as the product of an elite group of water leaders, the development of Arizona's cities is shown to reflect the broad aspirations of all their citizens. The book traces water development from the era of private water service to municipal ownership of water utilities and examines the impact of the post-World War II boom and subsequent expansion. Taking in the Salt River Project, the Central Arizona Project, and the Groundwater Management Act of 1980, Kupel explores the ongoing struggle between growth and environmentalism. He advocates public policy measures that can sustain a water future for the state. As the urban West enters a new century of water management, Arizona's progress will increasingly be tied to that of its ever-expanding cities. Fuel for Growth documents an earlier era of urban water use and provides important recommendations for the future path of water development in the West's key population centers.
Author: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Groundwater
Languages : en
Pages : 150
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Book Description
Author: Kevin and Marie Daily
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1467127159
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 1
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Book Description
The community of Flowing Wells covers 13 square miles, partially in the city of Tucson, as well as in unincorporated Pima County, Arizona. The area was named after the bubbling water from sunken pipes at the base of Sentinel Peak ("A" Mountain) by Warren Allison. Around 1895, Allison bought 500 acres of uncultivated land about three miles northwest of downtown Tucson. He and a sturdy team dug a canal, the Allison Ditch, from his wellfield to his land, called the Flowing Wells Ranch, to grow alfalfa, hay, watermelons, and cantaloupes. Farms, dairies, hatcheries, Gilpin Airport, and the railroad dominated the community throughout the early years. Urbanization was slow but steady, starting in the late 1940s. The community transitioned from farming to residential and industrial, with the school district binding the community together. Flowing Wells, while designated a community, was recognized as an All-America City by the National Civic League in 2007; its residents and those that work within the school district describe it as a family to this day.
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.
Author: Michael J. McGuire
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781625763433
Category : Drinking water
Languages : en
Pages : 442
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Book Description
"City leaders, Tucson Water employees, scientists, engineers, consultants, academics and many others worked together to not only solve the original problems but also to regain the trust of the public that had been destroyed by smelly, yellow, orange, brown and red water pouring out of home faucets. The lessons learned in Tucson about how to solve a water quality and treatment disaster can be applied to other situations where the faith and trust of the public have been lost"--
