Water Is for Fighting Over bookcover

Water Is for Fighting Over

And Other Myths about Water in the West

John Fleck 

(Author)
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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. In recent years, newspaper headlines have screamed, "Scarce water and the death of California farms," "The Dust Bowl returns," "A 'megadrought' will grip U.S. in the coming decades." Yet similar stories have been appearing for decades and the taps continue to flow. John Fleck argues that the talk of impending doom is not only untrue, but dangerous. When people get scared, they fight for the last drop of water; but when they actually have less, they use less.

Having covered environmental issues in the West for a quarter century, Fleck would be the last writer to discount the serious problems posed by a dwindling Colorado River. But in that time, Fleck has also seen people in the Colorado River Basin come together, conserve, and share the water that is available. Western communities, whether farmers and city-dwellers or US environmentalists and Mexican water managers, have a promising record of cooperation, a record often obscured by the crisis narrative.

In this fresh take on western water, Fleck brings to light the true history of collaboration and examines the bonds currently being forged to solve the Basin's most dire threats. 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.

Product Details

PublisherIsland Press
Publish DateMarch 19, 2019
Pages272
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconPaperback / softback
EAN/UPC9781642830118
Dimensions8.9 X 5.9 X 0.8 inches | 0.8 pounds

About the Author

John Fleck is director of the University of New Mexico's Water Resources Program. Fleck is Professor of Practice in water policy and governance in the university's Department of Economics and has been the Water Resources Program's writer-in-residence since January 2015. For 25 years, he covered science and the environment for The Albuquerque Journal. He is author of The Tree Rings' Tale, a children's book about the climate of the West.

Reviews

"Amidst the gloom of prophesies about water shortages soon to beset the Colorado River Basin states, along comes seasoned journalist John Fleck with a powerfully optimistic narrative. In his telling, there is enough water, so long as the states converse rather than condemn, and collaborate rather than litigate. His fresh insights on the challenges facing the American Southwest should inspire everyone who cares about our most iconic river."--Robert Glennon, author of "Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What To Do About It"

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