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Author: Eric Kuhn Publisher: University of Arizona Press ISBN: 0816540055 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 289
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: Eric Kuhn Publisher: University of Arizona Press ISBN: 0816540055 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 289
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: Sharon B. Megdal Publisher: CRC Press ISBN: 041566263X Category : Law Languages : en Pages : 318
Book Description
This collection of papers examines water management in two of the world’s prominent, arid transboundary areas facing similar challenges. In the Middle East, the chronically water-short Israeli-Palestinian region has recognized the need both to conserve and supplement its traditional water sources. Across the globe on the North American continent, Arizona—a state in the southwestern United States bordering Mexico—relies significantly on the overallocated Colorado River, as well as on non-renewable groundwater supplies. For both regions, sustainable and cost-effective solutions clearly require innovative, multifaceted, and conflict-avoiding approaches. This volume is predicated on the role that “science diplomacy” can play in resolving difficult water-related issues. The history of natural-resources disputes confirms that the scientific approach can reveal ways to overcome division. Experience has shown that scientifically-trained experts who are sensitive to sociopolitical conditions can assist in developing and evaluating feasible water management solutions. The insights and expertise of a distinguished and diverse group of researchers fill these chapters. Contributors include established authorities as well as a number of budding scholars. In a field traditionally dominated by males and by engineers, this collection benefits from significant gender diversity and contributions from a broad spectrum of disciplines. Policymakers, water managers, specialists such as university researchers and consultants, and citizens all have an interest in finding sustainable strategies to address the many water-management issues discussed in this volume. The assembled papers underscore that much work remains to be done.
Author: National Research Council Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309105242 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 222
Book Description
Recent studies of past climate and streamflow conditions have broadened understanding of long-term water availability in the Colorado River, revealing many periods when streamflow was lower than at any time in the past 100 years of recorded flows. That information, along with two important trends-a rapid increase in urban populations in the West and significant climate warming in the region-will require that water managers prepare for possible reductions in water supplies that cannot be fully averted through traditional means. Colorado River Basin Water Management assesses existing scientific information, including temperature and streamflow records, tree-ring based reconstructions, and climate model projections, and how it relates to Colorado River water supplies and demands, water management, and drought preparedness. The book concludes that successful adjustments to new conditions will entail strong and sustained cooperation among the seven Colorado River basin states and recommends conducting a comprehensive basinwide study of urban water practices that can be used to help improve planning for future droughts and water shortages.
Author: W. L. Minckley Publisher: University of Arizona Press ISBN: 9780816527991 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 482
Book Description
This comprehensive new book replaces and substantially expands upon the landmark Fishes of Arizona, which has been the authoritative source since it was first published in 1973. Inland Fishes of the Greater Southwest is a one-volume guide to native and non-native fishes of the lower Colorado River basin, downstream from the Grand Canyon, and of the northern tributaries of the Sea of Cortez in the United States and Mexico. In all, there are in-depth accounts of more than 165 species representing 30 families. The book is not limited to the fish. It provides insights into their aquatic world with information on topography, drainage relations, climate, geology, vegetational history, aquatic habitats, human-made water systems, and conservation. A section of the book is devoted to fish identification, with keys to native and non-native families as well as family keys to species. The book is illustrated with more than 120 black-and-white illustrations, 47 full-color plates of native fishes, and nearly 40 maps and figures. Many native fish species are unique to the Southwest. They possess interesting and unusual adaptations to the challenges of the region, able to survive silt-laden floods as well as extreme water temperatures and highly fluctuating water flows ranging from very low levels to flash floods. However, in spite of being well-adapted, many of the fish described here are threatened or endangered, often due to the acts of humans who have altered the natural habitat. For that reason, Inland Fishes of the Greater Southwest presents a vast amount of information about the ecological relationships between the fishes it describes and their environments, paying particular attention to the ways in which human interactions have modified aquatic ecosystemsÑand to how humans might work to ensure the survival of rapidly disappearing native species.
Author: John Fleck Publisher: Island Press ISBN: 1610916794 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 264
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.
Author: Jared Farmer Publisher: ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 312
Book Description
"Focusing on the saddening, maddening example of Glen Canyon, Jared Farmer traces the history of exploration and development in the Four Corners region, discusses the role of tourism in changing the face of the West, and shows how the "invention" of Lake Powell has served multiple needs. He also seeks to identify the point at which change becomes loss: How do people deal with losing places they love? How are we to remember or restore lost places?"--BOOK JACKET.
Author: Jack L. August (Jr.) Publisher: ISBN: Category : Arizona Languages : en Pages : 200
Book Description
Tells how Mark Wilmer, an Arizona lawyer, fashioned the successful arguments that won the Supreme Court case securing Arizona's allottment of Colorado River water.
Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs Publisher: ISBN: Category : Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico) Languages : en Pages : 994
Book Description
Considers legislation to authorize construction and maintenance of a dam at Bridge Canyon on the Colorado River in Arizona and to grant Congressional consent to the joinder of the U.S. as a party in suits for adjudication of claims to waters of the Colorado River system.\
Author: Robert H. Webb Publisher: University of Arizona Press ISBN: 0816547491 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 311
Book Description
Photographs made in Grand Canyon a century ago may provide us today with a sense of history; photographs made a century later from the same vantage points give us a more precise picture of change in this seemingly timeless place. Between 1889 and 1890, Robert Brewster Stanton made photographs every 1-2 miles through the river corridor for the purpose of planning a water-level railroad route and produced the largest collection of photographs of the Colorado River at one point in time. Robert Webb, a USGS hydrologist conducting research on debris flows in the Canyon, obtained the photographs and from 1989 to 1995 replicated all 445 of the views captured by Stanton, matching as closely as possible the original camera positions and lighting conditions. Grand Canyon, a Century of Change assembles the most dramatic of these paired photographs to demonstrate both the persistence of nature and the presence of humanity. Unexpected longevity of some plant species, effects of animal grazing, and expansion of cacti are all captured by the replicate photographs. More telling is evidence of the impact of Glen Canyon Dam: increased riparian vegetation, new marshes, aggraded debris fans, and eroded sand bars. In the accompanying text, Webb provides a thorough analysis of what each pair of photographs shows and places the project in its historical context. Complementing his narrative are six sidebar articles by authorities on Canyon natural history that further attest to a century of change. The level of detail obtained from the photographs represents one of the most extensive long-term monitoring efforts ever conducted in a national park; it is the most detailed documentation effort ever performed using repeat photography. Much more than simply a picture book, Grand Canyon, a Century of Change is an environmental history of the river corridor, a fascinating book that clearly shows the impact of human influence on Grand Canyon and warns us that its future is very much in our hands.
Author: Eric Kuhn
Author: Eric Kuhn
Author: Sharon B. Megdal
Author: National Research Council
Author: W. L. Minckley
Author: John Fleck
Author: Jared Farmer
Author: Ann Zwinger
Author: Jack L. August (Jr.)
Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs
Author: Robert H. Webb