Cadillac desert
Marc Reisner · 1986 · 582 pages
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About this book
"Beautifully written and meticulously researched."—St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This updated study of the economics, politics, and ecology of water covers more than a century of public and private desert reclamation in the American West. At its core, this book is a history of the massive engineering projects—dams, aqueducts, and diversions—that allowed the arid American West to bloom into a collection of major cities and agricultural hubs. It frames the development of the West not as a triumph of nature, but as a triumph of political maneuvering and federal spending. Why It Stands Out The "Money Flows Uphill" Thesis: Reisner famously argues that in the West, water doesn't follow the laws of physics; it follows the laws of money and power. He exposes how bureaucratic rivalries between the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers led to "pork-barrel" projects that were often economically irrational but politically unstoppable. Narrative Style: Unlike many dry academic texts on water law, Reisner writes with the pace of a political thriller. He paints vivid portraits of the "water titans"—the ambitious, often ruthless men who redirected entire rivers to create empires in the desert. Predictive Power: Although originally published in 1986, the book's warnings about the inherent limits of desert growth and the eventual "drying up" of the West are more relevant today than ever, particularly regarding the shrinking levels of the Great Salt Lake and Lake Mead. Key Highlights
Appears in these reading paths
The Wild West: essential books on the American frontier
Best Books on Environmental Engineering, in Reading Order
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