The Dreamt Land : Chasing Water and Dust Across California.
Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2019Copyright date: 2019Edition: First editionDescription: viii, 562 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781101875209
- 1101875208
- 333.91009794 23
- HD1694.C2 A24 2019
- NAT038000 | HIS036140 | POL044000
Item type | Current library | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BOOK | NCAR Library Mesa Lab | HD1694 .C2 .A24 2019 | 1 | Available | 50583020008730 |
"Borzoi Book"--Title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 531-537) and index.
Prologue (summer 2016) -- Part one. Cracks in the Earth (2014-2016) -- Apricot's lesson -- Agrarian revolt -- Singed -- Sinking -- Upon dry land -- Part two. Fathers of extraction (1769-1901) -- Staking Eden -- Eureka -- Tailings -- Mining soil -- Poor Henry -- Part three. System to the rescue (1901-1967) -- Fruiting the plain -- Steal us a river -- Moving the rain -- Part four. Children of the desert (2016-2017) -- Kingdom of wonderful -- The candy man -- Citrus hills -- Raisinland -- The whale -- Poisoned pond -- 960-Acre babies -- Holy water -- Epilogue (fall-winter 2017).
"A vivid, searching journey into California's complicated relationship to its water, from the Gold Rush to today : an epic story of the struggle to overcome the constraints of nature. Mark Arax is from a family of Central Valley farmers, a writer with deep ties to the land, who has watched as the battles over water have intensified even as the state lurches from drought to flood and back again. In The Dreamt Land he travels the state to explore the century-old water distribution system that is straining to keep up with California's relentless growth. This is a heartfelt, beautifully written book about land and the people who work on it, from the gold miners to the ranchers to the small farmers and today's big ag. Since the beginning, Californians have redirected rivers, drilled ever-deeper wells, and pushed the water supplies past their limits. The Dreamt Land brings to life the enterprising figures who have made a fortune off the land, and used that wealth to increase their leverage, as well as the people who have been left behind. It's a story of politics and hubris, but above all it's about the unceasing human ability to make things happen, and to endure in a hostile environment."--Publisher information.