Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing WaterThe 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. |
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Common terms and phrases
acre-feet acre-foot acres agricultural Angeles aqueduct aquifer basin began bill Blue envelope build built Bureau of Reclamation Canal Canyon Dam Carter Central Arizona Project Central Valley Central Valley Project Colorado River Columbia Commissioner Committee Congress Corps of Engineers cost crops Department of Water desert District diversion Dominy's drought Eaton economic farm farmers federal feet flood flow Floyd Dominy Fred Eaton going Grand Coulee groundwater growers half Hohokam Hoover Hoover Dam huge Idaho Interior irrigation knew Kuiper Lake land later look memorandum Mexico million acre-feet Missouri mountains Mulholland never North Otis Owens River Owens Valley Pacific Pat Brown percent plains Powell problem pumping region reservoir Roosevelt Salt San Francisco San Joaquin Valley Senator Sierra silt South southern California subsidized surplus Teton Teton Dam Texas thing thousand twenty Udall wanted Water Project Water Resources Watterson western William Mulholland wrote
References to this book
The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles William Fulton Limited preview - 2001 |
Electrifying America: Social Meanings of a New Technology, 1880-1940 David E. Nye No preview available - 1992 |