Dam Nation

by Stephen Grace

In the scramble to claim water rights in the West during the fevered days of early emigration and expansion, running out of water was rarely a concern, and the dam building fever that transformed the West in the 19th and 20th centuries created a map of the region that may be unsustainable. Throughout the arid American West, metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Denver need water. These cities are growing, but water supplies are dwindling. Scientists agree that the West is heating up and drying out, leading to future water shortages that will pose a challenge to existing laws.   Dam Nation looks first to the past, to the stories of the California gold rush and the earliest attempts by men to shape the landscape and tame it, takes us to the “Great American Desert” and the settlement of the west under the theory that "rain follows the plow," and then takes on the ongoing legal and moral battles in the West. Author Stephen Grace, is a novelist, a storyteller, and the author of several non-fiction books on Colorado. He weaves the facts into a compelling narrative that informs, entertains, and tells an important story.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Environment, Geology, Nature, Westerns

360 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2012

About the author

Stephen Grace is the author of a novel and several nonfiction books. While caretaking a house where the poet T.S. Eliot lived, he studied novel writing with Stratis Haviaras, founding editor of Harvard Review. To publish a book about the historical cartography of Colorado, he worked with Library of Congress curators and with Vincent Virga, called "America's foremost picture editor." While researching a narrative nonfiction book about China, he sought out experiences as diverse as studying skyscrapers in Shanghai and trail running in Tibet. To write his most recent book, DAM NATION: HOW WATER SHAPED THE WEST AND WILL DETERMINE ITS FUTURE, he followed the flow of water across the topography of the West and charted currents throughout the region's history. He is currently at work on a book about the urban agriculture movement, which has led to him working on a trash truck in Denver and volunteering on an organic farm in Uganda.

Reviews

[Sonya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bottom line? We are in terrible trouble in regards to long-term water supply and our history of waterways mismanagement.

I'd give the book a B+ for informational and historical content and C- for the author's repetitive writing style and snark. He can't mention Boulder without saying either hipster or hippie. The editorial asides added nothing to the book.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall Assessment: Return To Sender

Commentary:
Interestingly enough, Dam Nation is quite readable. So why the Return to Sender assessment? Well there are two essential reasons.

The first reason is that Dam Nation provides no real new insights or information over what Marc Reisner provided in Cadillac Desert The American West and Its Disappearing Water which was published some 26 years previously. Granted Stephen Grace does weave in climate change, but the stories told remain essentially the same. So in this case Dam Nation is pretty much redundant.

Second, and more seriously, Dam Nation's analysis is a complete mess populated with straw men and riddled with inconsistencies. All farmers with access to public water are big and rich. All corporations are greedy short-sighted land rapers. All things natural are sublime and painted in a golden light. What about a little nuance? (Occasionally Grace allows for a little nuance like allowing the fact that removing water subsidies might hurt small farmers - but wait - I thought all farmers were big and rich. Oh well)

Worse are the inconsistencies and just fuzzy thinking. Stephen Grace ridicules early Colorado river flow estimates because they were based on a mere 20 years extrapolation while implicitly accepting the weather patterns of the past 20 years as 1) normal and 2) representative of the future. Hmm. Different results true, but the intellectual basis is the same and just as flawed.

Likewise he ridicules the psuedo-science of the "Rain follows the plow" dictum that accompanied the settlement of the West while embracing global warming as incontrovertible truth. And finally his fundamental cure is more government oversight and control despite the fact that he has spent the entire book demonstrating that the current state of water affairs in the West is nothing else if not a political result. So tell me, if the state of Western water affairs is ultimately the result of politics, then more politics is the answer?

Stephen Grace is absolutely correct that the manner in which water is allocated, priced, consumed, and estimated in the West is both a mess and unsustainable. Unfortunately Dam Nation adds nothing to that essential truth that hasn't already been written and his proposed solutions are based on the same intellectual pillars that caused the mess in the first place.

[Caren · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have noted, the writing style often tends toward the florid. Yet, there is a lot of information covered and I was glad to have read the book. The author is chiefly looking at the dire water situation in much of the western USA. He includes a map with the 100th meridian marked. To the east of that line, there is abundant water, and to the west of it, not enough to support agriculture. He shows the many convoluted ways we have been trying, since the west was opened to settlement, to divert and manipulate water sources, with conservation seemingly never a consideration. This book is a sort of wake-up call. We ignore its information at our own risk. (With my daughter now living in Southern California, I read the book with great interest.)

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting information, but mediocre writing.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

As noted by others, lots of information, so-so writing. I learned a lot reading this book. I quit reading it because I found it so disheartening.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prior to reading this book I had already read Dead Pool and Cadilac Desert. I wondered whether the author could add much more. He does a good job of distilling the issues succinctly. I had trouble identifying what camp the author belongs to, environmental or civic/industry, understanding those categories are not very accurate, complete, and even offensive to some. I couldn't and I think the author's objectivity is a major reason the book works, despite the comprehensiveness of its predecessors. I must point out the prolific use of simile and metaphor in his descriptions of nature, perhaps betraying his subtle neutrality. Nevertheless, I am better informed, more concerned, and willing to do the hard things we all need to do to sustain ourselves here in the west. I do hope the future is not as dire as it might be without some changes.

[Eleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Dam Nation is like reading a horror novel, where you know the protagonist is going to make the wrong choices, ones that lead to disaster, but you keep reading anyway. The language is at times overblown and cliched (deserts are almost always "crispy", for example), but the book is jam packed full of information and stories about the main characters in the shaping of how water is used in the western half of the US. I had wanted to read about water management in the West, given the current drought, and this book gave a good overview and an extensive list of resources for further reading. Now that I have a basic understanding from this book, I'll be digging deeper into some of the sources listed.

[MelAnnD · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit that I was water illiterate before reading this book. The author did something amazing by taking a very complex topic and turning it into something very easy to understand for the common person. Everyone should read this book. Water truly is our most precious resource and I'll never look at a glass of water the same way after reading Dam Nation.


Won on goodreads

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read earlier in the year but forgot to add it to list. A finalist for Colorado Book Award. Very insightful and thought-provoking. Author did a lot of research but presents it in a readable style.

In case you need more proof - Water is (and will become more so) a huge issue, especially for the southwestern states.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, and learned a lot from reading it. The author makes many points strongly and sometimes repetitively. I guess with a passionate subject that is unavoidable, but sometimes I felt I was being hit over the head with the same points. I will pass this book to Alec, who will likely enjoy it too.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grace examines the role of water in the American West both past, present, and future. He looks at how population growth has led to a proliferation of dams on America's waterways as well as there consequences, both intended and unintended.

[Ian Billick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick read. If you haven't read Cadillac Desert, start there, though this book is a bit more up to date.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Educational and entertaining.

[Wayne]

A history and environmental narrative of water (both surface and ground) use and abuse in the West. The prose is a bit flowery for my taste (and leads to some inaccuracies in the story telling), but it is a fair assessment of the water issues facing the arid lands west of the 100th meridian.