Download or read book Rivers in the Desert written by Margaret Leslie Davis and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rise and fall of William Mulholland, and the story of L.A.’s disastrous dam collapse: “A dramatic saga of ambition, politics, money and betrayal” (Los Angeles Daily News). Rivers in the Desert follows the remarkable career of William Mulholland, the visionary who engineered the rise of Los Angeles as the greatest American city west of the Mississippi. He sought to transform the sparse and barren desert into an inhabitable environment by designing the longest aqueduct in the Western Hemisphere, bringing water from the mountains to support a large city. This “fascinating history” chronicles Mulholland’s dramatic ascension to wealth and fame—followed by his tragic downfall after the sudden collapse of the dam he had constructed to safeguard the water supply (Newsweek). The disaster, which killed at least five hundred people, caused his repudiation by allies, friends, and a previously adoring community. Epic in scope, Rivers in the Desert chronicles the history of Los Angeles and examines the tragic fate of the man who rescued it. “An arresting biography of William Mulholland, the visionary Los Angeles Water Department engineer . . . [his] personal and public dramas make for gripping reading.” —Publishers Weekly “A fascinating look at the political maneuvering and engineering marvels that moved the City of Angels into the first rank of American cities.” —Booklist

Download or read book River in The Desert written by Paul William Roberts and published by Harvard Common Press. This book was released on 2006-06-30 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The cultural hub of the Middle East, Egypt is the world's oldest country and home to the world's grandest, most enigmatic monuments. This eloquent observation explores the teeming crossroads of both ancient and modern Egypt, revealing its magnificent, bizarre, and ever-captivating aspects.

Download or read book Cadillac Desert written by Marc Reisner and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1993-06-01 with total page 674 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “I’ve been thinking a lot about Cadillac Desert in the past few weeks, as the rain fell and fell and kept falling over California, much of which, despite the pouring heavens, seems likely to remain in the grip of a severe drought. Reisner anticipated this moment. He worried that the West’s success with irrigation could be a mirage — that it took water for granted and didn’t appreciate the precariousness of our capacity to control it.” – Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times, January 20,2023 "The definitive work on the West's water crisis." --Newsweek 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. 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. This edition includes a new postscript by Lawrie Mott, a former staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, that updates Western water issues over the last two decades, including the long-term impact of climate change and how the region can prepare for the future.

Download or read book Rivers in the Desert written by Margaret L. Davis and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first major biography of Mulholland, the engineer who designed and built the Los Angeles Aqueduct (which aided LA's incredible growth) is a compelling story of man, nature, heroism, and tragedy that was the basis for the award-winning movie Chinatown. Photos.

Download or read book River and Desert Plants of the Grand Canyon written by Kristin Huisinga and published by Mountain Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Grand Canyon's isolation, great elevational range, and position at the convergence of three North American deserts--the Mojave, Sonoran, and Great Basin--have created unique habitats for an unusual assemblage of plants. Some grow only at seeps and springs, others emerge from cracks in the bedrock, and some live only in the Grand Canyon--for example, Roaring Springs prickly poppy and Grand Canyon flaveria. River and Desert Plants of the Grand Canyon, the first comprehensive field guide devoted to plants that live below the canyon rims, is bursting with beautiful color photographs and detailed line drawings of more than 250 ferns, grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees. Narratives organized by life form and common family name describe each plant and its natural history, and thumbnail photographs arranged by flower color and shape offer a key for easy identification. Essays by contributing experts explore such topics as Grand Canyon ecology, desert-plant adaptations, biological soil crusts, plant pollination, invasive species, and domesticated plants of the canyon's indigenous people.

Download or read book Streams in the Desert written by and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Wet Desert written by Gary Hansen and published by WetDesert. This book was released on 2007-05 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grant Stevens, a mid-level manager for the Bureau of Reclamation, only wanted to build dams. He never imagined he would be swept into a desperate race against an environmental terrorist bent on restoring the Colorado River by blowing up the dams. Left temporarily in charge of the Bureau, Grant must react when the first dam is attacked. He faces the unthinkable task of mitigating the massive flood roaring down the Colorado. The flood will eventually threaten the mighty Hoover Dam, and if Hoover fails, the other dams downstream will fall like dominos. Working with the FBI, Grant uses his engineering skills, river knowledge, and plenty of gut instinct in an attempt to outmaneuver the terrorist. The chase will lead all the way downstream to the Gulf of California in a cat and mouse game where the stakes are high and the potential for destruction is enormous.

Download or read book Once a River written by Amadeo M. Rea and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like many rivers of the arid Southwest, the Gila is for much of its length a dry bed except after seasonal rains. Yet a mere century ago it hosted a thriving biological community, and two centuries ago American Indians fished from its banks. It is no mystery how the desert swallowed up the Gila. Beaver trapping, overgrazing, and woodcutting first ruined natural watersheds, then damming confined the last drops of its surface flow. Historical sources and archaeological data inform us of the Gila's past, but its bird life further testifies to the changes. Amadeo Rea traces the decline of bird life on the Middle Gila in a book that addresses the broader issue of habitat deterioration. Bird lovers will find it a storehouse of data on avian migration patterns and on ornithological classification based on skeletal structure. Anthropologists can draw on its Piman ethnoclassification of birds, which links the Gila River tribe with various other Uto-Aztecan peoples of Mexico's west coast. But for all concerned with protecting our environment, Once a River offers evidence of change that might be apprehended elsewhere. It is a case history of a loss that perhaps need never have occurred.

Download or read book Ecology and Conservation of the San Pedro River written by Juliet C. Stromberg and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: contributors - biologists, ecologists, geomorphologists, historians, hydrologists, lawyers, and political scientists - weave together threads from their diverse perspectives to reveal the processes that shape the past, present, and future of the San Pedro's riparian and aquatic ecosystems. They review the biological communities of the San Pedro and the stream hydrology and geomorphology that affects its riparian biota. They then look at conservation and management challenges along three sections of the San Pedro, from its headwaters in Mexico in its confluence with the Gila River, describing legal and policy issues and their interface with science; activities related to mitigation, conservation, and restoration; and a prognosis of the potential for sustaining the basin's riparian system." "Complemented by a foreword written by James Shuttleworth, these chapters demonstrate the complexity of the San Pedro's ecological and hydrological conditions, showing that there are no easy --

Download or read book Climate Change in Deserts written by Martin Williams and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-08-11 with total page 653 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A synthesis of the environmental and climatic history of every major desert and desert margin, for researchers and advanced students.

Download or read book Dry River written by Ken Lamberton and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2011-03-15 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Poet and writer Alison Deming once noted, ÒIn the desert, one finds the way by tracing the aftermath of water . . . Ó Here, Ken Lamberton finds his way through a lifetime of exploring southern ArizonaÕs Santa Cruz River. This riverÑdry, still, and silent one moment, a thundering torrent of mud the nextÑserves as a reflection of the desert around it: a hint of water on parched sand, a path to redemption across a thirsty landscape. With his latest book, Lamberton takes us on a trek across the land of three nationsÑthe United States, Mexico, and the Tohono OÕodham NationÑas he hikes the riverÕs path from its source and introduces us to people who draw identity from the riverÑdedicated professionals, hardworking locals, and the authorÕs own family. These people each have their own stories of the river and its effect on their lives, and their narratives add immeasurable richness and depth to LambertonÕs own astute observations and picturesque descriptions. Unlike books that detail only the Santa CruzÕs decline, Dry River offers a more balanced, at times even optimistic, view of the river that ignites hope for reclamation and offers a call to action rather than indulging in despair and resignation. At once a fascinating cultural history lesson and an important reminder that learning from the past can help us fix what we have damaged, Dry River is both a story about the amazing complexity of this troubled desert waterway and a celebration of one manÕs lifelong journey with the people and places touched by it.

Download or read book Mythical River written by Melissa L. Sevigny and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 2016-03-15 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "As population growth and climate upheaval strain the Southwest's water resources, Mythical River uncovers the folly of modern water policies and illuminates a way forward: recognizing the rights of ecosystems"--Provided by publisher.

Download or read book Rivers in the Desert written by Margaret L. Davis and published by E-Rights/E-Reads Limited. This book was released on 2001-05 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rivers in the Desert is the quintessential American story. It follows the remarkable career of William Mulholland, the visionary who engineered the rise of Los Angeles as the greatest American city west of the Mississippi. He sought to transform the sparse and barren desert into an inhabitable environment by designing the longest aqueduct in the Western Hemisphere, bringing water from the mountains to support a large city. Davis chronicles Mulholland's dramatic ascension to wealth and fame, followed by his tragic downfall after the sudden collapse of the dam he had constructed to safeguard the water supply. The disaster, which killed at least five hundred people, caused his repudiation by allies, friends, and a previously adoring community. Epic in scope, Rivers in the Desert chronicles the history of Los Angeles and examines the tragic fate of the man who rescued it.

Download or read book Where the Water Goes written by David Owen and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-04-10 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Wonderfully written…Mr. Owen writes about water, but in these polarized times the lessons he shares spill into other arenas. The world of water rights and wrongs along the Colorado River offers hope for other problems.” —Wall Street Journal An eye-opening account of where our water comes from and where it all goes. The Colorado River is an essential resource for a surprisingly large part of the United States, and every gallon that flows down it is owned or claimed by someone. David Owen traces all that water from the Colorado’s headwaters to its parched terminus, once a verdant wetland but now a million-acre desert. He takes readers on an adventure downriver, along a labyrinth of waterways, reservoirs, power plants, farms, fracking sites, ghost towns, and RV parks, to the spot near the U.S.–Mexico border where the river runs dry. Water problems in the western United States can seem tantalizingly easy to solve: just turn off the fountains at the Bellagio, stop selling hay to China, ban golf, cut down the almond trees, and kill all the lawyers. But a closer look reveals a vast man-made ecosystem that is far more complex and more interesting than the headlines let on. The story Owen tells in Where the Water Goes is crucial to our future: how a patchwork of engineering marvels, byzantine legal agreements, aging infrastructure, and neighborly cooperation enables life to flourish in the desert—and the disastrous consequences we face when any part of this tenuous system fails.

Download or read book The Line Becomes a River written by Francisco Cantú and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NAMED A TOP 10 BOOK OF 2018 BY NPR and THE WASHINGTON POST WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE IN CURRENT INTEREST FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE NONFICTION AWARD The instant New York Times bestseller, "A must-read for anyone who thinks 'build a wall' is the answer to anything." --Esquire For Francisco Cantú, the border is in the blood: his mother, a park ranger and daughter of a Mexican immigrant, raised him in the scrublands of the Southwest. Driven to understand the hard realities of the landscape he loves, Cantú joins the Border Patrol. He and his partners learn to track other humans under blistering sun and through frigid nights. They haul in the dead and deliver to detention those they find alive. Plagued by a growing awareness of his complicity in a dehumanizing enterprise, he abandons the Patrol for civilian life. But when an immigrant friend travels to Mexico to visit his dying mother and does not return, Cantú discovers that the border has migrated with him, and now he must know the full extent of the violence it wreaks, on both sides of the line.

Download or read book Desert Wetlands written by Lucian Niemeyer and published by UNM Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 150 color photos and accompanying text document wetland sites in the American Southwest and Mexico.

Download or read book The Boulder Canyon Project written by Wesley R. Nelson and published by . This book was released on 1936 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: