Water in the West | Mid-Columbia Libraries

Water always wins : thriving in an age of drought and deluge

Gies, Erica, author.

From the Publisher

"Water Always Wins transports us around the world and back through time, exposing us to better ways to live with water. Gies introduces us to water experts the world over as they search for clues to water's past and present, using close observation, historical research, ancient animal and human wisdom, and cutting-edge science to effect change. We become more aware of the ways in which modern civilizations speed water away, erasing its slow phases on the land. But that's when, Gies says, "the...

A new form of beauty : Glen Canyon beyond climate change

Goin, Peter, 1951- photographer.

From the Publisher

"The book is a lyrical expression, in words and photographs, of Glen Canyon/Lake Powell as a quintessential landscape in the new era of climate change. Three photograph galleries are interspersed between three essay chapters, which analyze why the uncertainties in the region herald an unpredictable new future around the world"--Provided by publisher.

Living River : The Promise of the Mighty Colorado.

Showalter, Dave.

From the Publisher

With powerful visual storytelling, Living River illustrates how we can create a resilient watershed if we change our relationship with water. Exploring the endangered Colorado River from source to sea, award-winning photographer Dave Showalter provides a deeper understanding of how countless numbers of creatures and 40 million humans depend upon its water and how the futures of all are inextricably linked to the health of the river.

The dreamt land : chasing water and dust across California

Arax, Mark, 1956- author.

From the Publisher

"A vivid, searching journey into California's complicated relationship to its water, from the Gold Rush to today--an epic story of the struggle to overcome the constraints of nature"--Provided by publisher.

Cadillac desert : the American West and its disappearing water

Reisner, Marc.

From the Publisher

The 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....

My Thoughts

Absolutely no better book to read if you want to learn the history of water projects in the West.

Beyond the hundredth meridian : John Wesley Powell and the second opening of the West

Stegner, Wallace Earle, 1909-

From the Publisher

In Beyond the Hundredth Meridian, Wallace Stegner recounts the sucesses and frustrations of John Wesley Powell, the distinguished ethnologist and geologist who explored the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, and the homeland of Indian tribes of the American Southwest. A prophet without honor who had a profound understanding of the American West, Powell warned long ago of the dangers economic exploitation would pose to the West and spent a good deal of his life overcoming Washington politics in...

The state of water : understanding California's most precious resource

Kaufmann, Obi, author.

From the Publisher

In this book, Kaufmann's signature full-color maps unravel the braided knot of California's water infrastructure and ecosystems, exposing a history of unlimited growth in spite of finite natural resources--a history that has led to its current precarious circumstances. Yet this built world depends upon the biosphere, and in The State of Water Kaufmann argues that environmental conservation and restoration efforts are necessary not only for ethical reasons but also as a matter of human survival....

Elwha : a river reborn

Mapes, Lynda, 1959-

From the Publisher

In 2011, a Montana contractor removed the first pieces from two concrete dams on the Elwha River which cuts through the Olympic range. It was the beginning of the largest dam removal project ever undertaken in North America--one dam was 200 feet tall--and the start of an unprecedented attempt to restore an entire ecosystem. More than 70 miles of the Elwha and its tributaries course from the mountain headwaters to clamming beaches on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Through interviews, field work,...

A river captured : the Columbia River Treaty and catastrophic change

Pearkes, Eileen Delehanty, 1961- author.

From the Publisher

"A River Captured explores the controversial history of the Columbia River Treaty and its impact on the ecosystems, indigenous peoples, contemporary culture, provincial politics and recent history of southeastern British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest."-- Provided by publisher.

The man who thought he owned water : on the brink with American farms, cities, and food

D'Elgin, Tershia, author.

From the Publisher

"A story of her small family farm in Colorado with history of water policy in the state and the science and law of water resources in the West. Addressing the deepening need for urban-rural cooperation, dispelling misconceptions and shares essential background knowledge about farms, food and water"--Provided by publisher.

A river lost : the life and death of the Columbia

Harden, Blaine.

From the Publisher

After two decades, Washington Post journalist Blaine Harden returned to his small-town birthplace in the Pacific Northwest to follow the rise and fall of the West's most thoroughly conquered river. To explore the Columbia River and befriend those who collaborated in its destruction, he traveled on a monstrous freightbarge sailing west from Idaho to the Grand Coulee Dam, the site of the river's harnessing for the sake of jobs, electricity, and irrigation. A River Lost is a searing personal...

My Thoughts

This book offers a highly-readable natural and human history of the Columbia River.

David Brower : the making of the environmental movement

Turner, Tom, 1942- author.

From the Publisher

David Brower is one of the dominant figures in the environmental movement over the last half of the twentieth century. Frequently compared to John Muir, he was the first executive director of the Sierra Club, founded Friends of the Earth, and helped secure passage of the Wilderness Act. Tapping his passion for wilderness and especially the mountains he scaled in his youth, he was a key figure in the creation of the Point Reyes National Seashore, the Northern Cascades and Redwood National Parks,...