“Masterfully researching his subject,” historian David Carle contemplates the future of water conservation in the drought-challenged state of California (Los Angeles Times).
Imported water has transformed the Golden State’s environment and quality of life. Land ownership patterns and real estate boosterism dramatically altered both urban and rural communities across the entire state. Using first-person voices of Californians to reveal the resulting changes, Carle concludes that now is the time to stop drowning the California Dream.
With extensive use of oral histories, contemporary newspaper articles and autobiographies, Carle provides a rich exploration of the historic changes in California, as imported water shaped patterns of growth and development. In this thoroughly revised edition, Carle brings that history up to date, as water choices remain the primary tool for shaping California’s future. In a land where climate change is exacerbating the challenges of a naturally dry region, the state’s damaged environment and reduced quality of life can be corrected, Carle argues, if Californians step out of the historic pattern and embrace limited water supplies as a fact of life.
“California . . . has been involved in some of the most noxious water wars imaginable . . . these down-and-dirty fights receive a fascinating airing.” —San Diego Union Tribune
“Inventive and informative text . . . [California’s] infatuation with limitless growth . . . may create a world too ugly to contemplate.” —T. H. Watkins, Wallace Stegner Professor of Western American Studies, Montana State University
“Offers a high moral and technological challenge, together with a desperate (and perhaps final!) hope.” —Dr. Kevin Starr, State Librarian of California
