Analysis Of Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert

(Babbitt, 2007), (Dedekorkut 2003) Both the federal and state agencies, along the American people are dedicated to clean-up the water flows in the Everglades. With this, the Everglades Restoration, as Babbitt points-out, is an example of a national commitment to large scale restoration of degraded ecosystems (Babbitt 2007). However , currently, both the public and the political culture rely heavily on natural resource science for answers the many phenomena that exist in water resource policy.

The Grand Coulee Dam, located in Eastern Washington, was one of controversy, risk, and a point of no return. While the water captured made the desert area blossom in agriculture and it powered some large cities, it created a sense of accomplishment, that humans can control Mother Nature. While many people were very excited for this new construction – which gives power and resources - at the time, some thought it should not be allowed, they are not proud of containing the Columbia River. In this analysis, I am going to focus on the economic and social effects that the Grand Coulee Dam created in its build.

Yet, humans have limited control on natural events, so this only reinforces the importance of managing water wisely. Recently California’s government has begun to focus more on sustaining and restoring the water supply. Dale Kasler (2016) articulates in his article some of the steps they have decided to make to solve this serious issue. The government has made the following investments: “$415 million for watershed restoration and other environmental aid for Lake Tahoe; up to $335 million for two proposed reservoirs in California, including the Sites reservoir north of Sacramento; $880 million for flood-control projects on the American and Sacramento rivers in Sacramento; and $780 million for flood-control projects in West Sacramento” (para. 10). This could be the first step to restoring the water to California. But these

In the book The Big Thirst, Charles Fishman addresses the key issues of how water is abused in areas, like Las Vegas, and the era of “easy” water is over. Fishman explains where the largest amount of water is located and water’s presence in space. His book is mainly composed of case studies showing how water in certain areas, like Las Vegas and India, has been dwindling and the absence of preparation in those places when the water is almost gone. Lastly, he talks about the misconceptions of tap water and the lack of understanding communities and people in power have about the future of water. Fishman wants the reader to be crystal clear on how water has come to this point, the issues of water shortages, and the solutions to water problems.

In his book, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Marc Reisner’s main thesis is to show the inefficiency, greed, and inherent difficulty in the American West’s never-ending struggle to turn its unwelcoming desert into a lush garden. One of his main sub-points is that the West is not meant to support millions of people. It has a wide range of geographic challenges throughout the entire region. Its inconsistency and diversity is a primary cause of its water problems. For example, Reisner notes that the West consists of “plains so arid that they could barely support bunchgrass; deserts that were fiercely hot and fiercely cold; streams that flooded a few weeks each year and went dry the rest; forests with trees so large it might take days to bring one down; . . . hail followed by drought followed by hail;” (23).

Texas, with its abundances of natural resources, is facing a new demon, one that doesn’t even seem possible, a shortage of water. Water, without it nothing can survive. Texas is the second largest state for landmass in the nation and ninth for water square miles. Within the borders of Texas are more than 100 lakes, 14 major rivers, and 23 aquifers, so why has water become such an important issue for the state? Politicians and conservationists all agree that without a new working water plan, the state could be facing one of the most damaging environmental disasters they have ever seen. The issues that shape the states positions are population growth, current drought conditions, and who actually owns the water.

Over the course of the past century, much has changed in America. From the rise of factory production bringing people out of the countryside and into the cities, to two World Wars that continued the massive factory production that funded and armed the war effort, to the rise of suburbia and the massive developments that often destroyed or forever altered vast tracks of land where they would sit. In Marc Reisner’s Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, he addresses the politics of water and environmentalism in the West. “Thanks to irrigation, thanks to the Bureau [of Reclamation]... states such as California, Arizona, and Idaho became populous and wealthy; millions settled in regions where nature, left alone, would have

“ A century ago Floridians thought their biggest problem was too much water where people wanted to settle. Now, our biggest problem is that we do not have enough water where people want to settle.” (Prologue pg. 10) Says Cynthia Barnett author of Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S. 100 plus years ago Florida was drowning. We had more water than we knew what to do with. In Mirage it teaches us many of the ways that we have come so far from being this teeming state. Through wasteful water use, legal and political fights for control, overconsumption, and undervalue for one of the most vital elements of life we have put ourselves in a position that is showing to be very difficult for Florida to overcome. Florida has

The intended reader for the article is a professional, someone who is a politician or a legislator who works for the state. The main point of this article is arguing how California needs to create a groundwater management for better regulation of their water resources. The use of vocabulary shows that the author is writing to a very knowledgeable person about California’s water problems. The choice of words is technical, for which the reader should understand when reading the article. In addition, the format of the article is solution-oriented, where the beginning starts with the introduction of California’s water problem and concludes with a solution. This is an extensive article with lots of technical information regarding the sustainable

Water has become such a scarce necessity that the city is now taking larger amounts of water from the Cutzamala and Lerma River Basins. Mexico City does provide for itself a decent amount of water—approximately seventy percent (Tortajada and Castelan, 2003). Even though Mexico City supports itself with water from the basin it lies in—Basin of Mexico—it does so with repercussions. The most difficult problems the city is facing occur because the groundwater is being mined: they are removing more than naturally flows in. Mexico City is situated on a dry lake bed, and it is suffering from soil subsidence. They are overdrafting groundwater so much that the city sinks at an average rate of thirty centimeters each year (Alcocer and Williams, 1996).

I have learned about the Portland’s water system in the first of a few weeks. I have learned the Portland’s water resources, water quality management, history of water system, water transportation system, and water issues in Portland area. Now, I compare Portland’s water system to another city in the United States. I pick up Seattle’s water system because I lived in Seattle for two years before I move to Portland, and I’m interested in the Seattle’s water system. In this journal, I write about the following sections: History of Seattle’s water system, water resources, water quality management, water transportation, water issues in Seattle, and conclusion (similarities and differences between Seattle’s water system and Portland’s water system).

Human-caused pollution of water on the planet is a dangerous threat that will have negative results. Many highly populated areas, such as the Seattle metropolitan area, are located near large bodies of water, for example, “The U.S. has over twelve thousand miles of coastline, home to 53 percent of Americans” (Subramanian 4). Meera Subramanian, a journalist and Fulbright-Nehru senior researcher, reveals, “The latest knowledge of hydrological dynamics: strategically placed

With its current conservational methods Las Vegas achieved a remarkable feat, “in recent years, Las Vegas and its suburbs have cut water use by one-third while adding 400,000 residents”6. The Las Vegas Valley Water District states that by 2035 its goal of “199 GPCD (gallons per capita per day or gallons per person per day)”7 will be reached, but is still in fact higher than “California’s present average at 182 GPCD”8. Paradoxically, both states are dealing with terrible droughts, with California facing “one of the most severe droughts on record”9. Las Vegas however, will have a population expected to “almost double by 2060”10. Therefore, with more residents and infrastructure determined to increase, water sustainability will have to depend on sustainable policies and public involvement, but both still have room for improvement and are quickly running out of

When referring to Arizona’s water Kris Mayes, chairwoman of the state’s utility regulatory panel once said, “How do you say just how valuable water is in an arid state like Arizona?” she said. “It’s like the credit-card commercial-it’s priceless” (McKinnon). She was right, because in a dry state like Arizona, water is pretty important. To say water is ‘pretty important’ for the world is an understatement. We use water to function. And when we think of water we think of saving it. Keep the faucets from dripping or turn off the water while brushing your teeth. There are numerous tips for water conservation, but people don’t often think of the damage that is already done. Damages like ‘dead zones’. Dead zones in the ocean have been around for

For humans, drinking water is a biological necessity. As with any resource, however, access to water is often limited. This is based on a combination of circumstances constructing water as an economically-based, commodified resource. The control, regulation, and treatment of water by political bodies determines who has access to the resource. In the United States, this results in the interaction of Municipal, State, and Federal branches of government. The interaction of these bodies as related to the governance of water depends upon the prioritization of drinking water for the people. Ultimately, the difference