Dead Pool : Lake Powell, Global Warming, and the Future of Water in the West /
Powell, James Lawrence,
Dead Pool : Lake Powell, Global Warming, and the Future of Water in the West / James Lawrence Powell. - Reprint 2020. - 1 online resource (425 p.)
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS -- PART ONE. River of Surprise -- ONE. The Dam Is Not Going to Break -- TWO. Playing Dice with Nature -- PART TWO. River of Empire -- THREE. Appointment in Samarra -- FOUR. One Simple Fact -- FIVE. The Reality of Empire -- SIX. This Vast Plain of Opulent Soil -- SEVEN. Lonely Lands Made Fruitful -- PART THREE. River of Controversy -- EIGHT. Natural Menace Becomes National Resource -- NINE. Shall We Let Them Ruin Our National Parks? -- TEN. We Want to Be Dammed -- ELEVEN. To Have a Deep Blue Lake -- TWELVE. The Biggest Boondoggle -- PART FOUR. River of Limits -- THIRTEEN. Time Machines -- FOURTEEN. A New Climatology -- FIFTEEN. Rainmakers -- SIXTEEN. Let People in the Future Worry about It -- SEVENTEEN. A Hundred Green Lagoons -- PART FIVE. River of Tomorrow -- EIGHTEEN. River of Law -- NINETEEN. The West against Itself -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- NOTES -- INDEX
Where will the water come from to sustain the great desert cities of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix? In a provocative exploration of the past, present, and future of water in the West, James Lawrence Powell begins at Lake Powell, the vast reservoir that has become an emblem of this story. At present, Lake Powell is less than half full. Bathtub rings ten stories tall encircle its blue water; boat ramps and marinas lie stranded and useless. To refill it would require surplus water--but there is no surplus: burgeoning populations and thirsty crops consume every drop of the Colorado River. Add to this picture the looming effects of global warming and drought, and the scenario becomes bleaker still. Dead Pool, featuring rarely seen historical photographs, explains why America built the dam that made Lake Powell and others like it and then allowed its citizens to become dependent on their benefits, which were always temporary. Writing for a wide audience, Powell shows us exactly why an urgent threat during the first half of the twenty-first century will come not from the rising of the seas but from the falling of the reservoirs.
In English.
0520342046 9780520342040
10.1525/9780520342040 doi
22573/cats8473561 JSTOR
Global warming--West (U.S.)
Water-supply--West (U.S.)
NON-CLASSIFIABLE.
NATURE / Environmental Conservation & Protection
Global warming
Water-supply
Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico)
Glen Canyon Dam (Ariz.)--History.
Powell, Lake (Utah and Ariz.)--History.
Colorado (Col.-Mexique : Fleuve)
Glen Canyon Dam (Ariz.)--Histoire.
Powell, Lac (Utah et Ariz.)--Histoire.
Arizona--Glen Canyon Dam
North America--Colorado River
United States--Lake Powell
West United States
History
TC557.C62
363.6/10978
Dead Pool : Lake Powell, Global Warming, and the Future of Water in the West / James Lawrence Powell. - Reprint 2020. - 1 online resource (425 p.)
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS -- PART ONE. River of Surprise -- ONE. The Dam Is Not Going to Break -- TWO. Playing Dice with Nature -- PART TWO. River of Empire -- THREE. Appointment in Samarra -- FOUR. One Simple Fact -- FIVE. The Reality of Empire -- SIX. This Vast Plain of Opulent Soil -- SEVEN. Lonely Lands Made Fruitful -- PART THREE. River of Controversy -- EIGHT. Natural Menace Becomes National Resource -- NINE. Shall We Let Them Ruin Our National Parks? -- TEN. We Want to Be Dammed -- ELEVEN. To Have a Deep Blue Lake -- TWELVE. The Biggest Boondoggle -- PART FOUR. River of Limits -- THIRTEEN. Time Machines -- FOURTEEN. A New Climatology -- FIFTEEN. Rainmakers -- SIXTEEN. Let People in the Future Worry about It -- SEVENTEEN. A Hundred Green Lagoons -- PART FIVE. River of Tomorrow -- EIGHTEEN. River of Law -- NINETEEN. The West against Itself -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- NOTES -- INDEX
Where will the water come from to sustain the great desert cities of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix? In a provocative exploration of the past, present, and future of water in the West, James Lawrence Powell begins at Lake Powell, the vast reservoir that has become an emblem of this story. At present, Lake Powell is less than half full. Bathtub rings ten stories tall encircle its blue water; boat ramps and marinas lie stranded and useless. To refill it would require surplus water--but there is no surplus: burgeoning populations and thirsty crops consume every drop of the Colorado River. Add to this picture the looming effects of global warming and drought, and the scenario becomes bleaker still. Dead Pool, featuring rarely seen historical photographs, explains why America built the dam that made Lake Powell and others like it and then allowed its citizens to become dependent on their benefits, which were always temporary. Writing for a wide audience, Powell shows us exactly why an urgent threat during the first half of the twenty-first century will come not from the rising of the seas but from the falling of the reservoirs.
In English.
0520342046 9780520342040
10.1525/9780520342040 doi
22573/cats8473561 JSTOR
Global warming--West (U.S.)
Water-supply--West (U.S.)
NON-CLASSIFIABLE.
NATURE / Environmental Conservation & Protection
Global warming
Water-supply
Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico)
Glen Canyon Dam (Ariz.)--History.
Powell, Lake (Utah and Ariz.)--History.
Colorado (Col.-Mexique : Fleuve)
Glen Canyon Dam (Ariz.)--Histoire.
Powell, Lac (Utah et Ariz.)--Histoire.
Arizona--Glen Canyon Dam
North America--Colorado River
United States--Lake Powell
West United States
History
TC557.C62
363.6/10978