Drowning the Dream: California's Water Choices at the Millennium [Hardcover]

David Carle (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275967190 | ISBN-13: 978-0275967192 | Publication Date: February 28, 2000

Imported water has transformed the Golden State's environment and quality of life. In the last one hundred years, land ownership patterns and real estate boosterism have dramatically altered both urban and rural communities across the entire state. The key has been water from the Eastern Sierra, the Colorado River and, finally, Northern California rivers. "Whoever brings the water, brings the people" wrote engineer William Mulholland, whose leadership began the process of water irrigating unlimited growth. Using first-person voices of Californians to reveal the resulting changes, Carle concludes that the new millennium may be 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 change in California, showing that imported water has shaped the pattern of population growth in the state. Water choices remain the primary tool, he claims, for shaping California's future. The state's damaged environment and reduced quality of life can be corrected if Californians will step out of their historic pattern and embrace limited water supplies as a fact of life in this naturally dry region.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Carle's analysis of the impact of an ever-expanding need for water on the past and future of California is well done, so much so that his book has enormous value to those wrestling with issues of sustainability anywhere. Carle is affiliated with the Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve, placing him in the story of water decisions in California, and his academic position gives him the skills to teach readers. In this thorough historical analysis of how California changed from a frontier to a place where growth seemed to be the only possible option, Carle delineates the various choices that were made in quenching the growth-frenzied thirst....This well-written study...is suitable for anyone interested in growth and related environmental issues....Overall, strongly recommended.”–Choice

“...in any endlessly growing population, the challenges of dealing with fixed water supply become more and more difficult, the pressures to develop new sources become greater, and the risk of a renwal of ecological decline and loss returns. Any efforts we make will be undermined or even reversed by a population that continues to endlessly grow. Sustainability can only be achieved with a steady-state population, and while Carle is not the first to make this point, it deserves a higher place in the debate over our water future.”–Natural Resources Forum

“The story of this "land larceny," and others to come, has as many twists and turns as a good film noir (and became just that, in "Chinatown"), and as much violence. Carle spares no one's reputation in the telling.”–San Diego Union Tribune

“[T]his book is ultimately hopeful and positive. By examining California's watery past, perhaps we can avoid making the same mistakes.”–Mammoth Times

“Imported water has transformed the environment of California and its quality of life. In the last two hundred years, land ownership patterns and real estate boom have dramatically altered both urban and rural communities. This book argues that the key to this transformation has been access to water from the Eastern Sierra, the Colorado River, and the northern California rivers.”–Abstracts of Public Administration, Development, and Environment

“Water has always been the defining element in California's history, driving its dreams of expansion. Carle tells that story well--but what his inventive and informative text also demonstrates is that if the state does not soon turn back on its own history, its infatuation with limitless growth and the water to supply it may create a world too ugly to contemplate.”–T.H. Watkins Wallace Stegner Professor of Western American Studies Montana State University

“For anyone genuinely concerned with the continuing loss of a finer California, David Carle offers a high moral and technological challenge, together with a desperate (and perhaps final!) hope.”–Dr. Kevin Starr State Librarian of California

“David Carle, born and raised in Orange County, knows first hand the changes in Southern California during the past 50 years. For 20 years, the ranger at Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve...learned how water exports can devastate a productive and scenic ecosystem....This book belongs in the hands of anyone interested in California's history and future.”–Sally Gaines Co-founder, Mono Lake Committee

“Drowning the Dream dramatically illustrates the connections between water supplies and population growth. It clearly explains the role of water development in promoting sprawl. David Carle uses fascinating historical anecdotes and quotations to demonstrate the choices Californians have had in managing the water wealth of their state. He details the current threats to the most productive agricultural lands in the world and dares to question the inevitability of growth. He cautions us that indifference will allow growth to accelerate and makes a strong case for consciously choosing stability and sustainability.”–Rick Kattelmann Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory

“Discussions of population and growth control are often difficult, but in Drowning the Dream David Carle brings a new, strongly reasoned approach to the table. In the process, Carle takes on the ultimate questions of California water politics: What kind of state do we want to live in? How much more growth does California really need? Can we keep the California Dream alive? California is naturally limited by its water supply...and, therefore, water can be the tool to limit the state's future growth naturally--once we finally abandon the untenable proposal that more water can always be found.”–Geoffrey McQuilkin Co-Executive Director, Mono Lake Committee

“A well documented history of boosterism, population growth, water development, and the loss of the quality of life in California. Carle brings the water development history current, i.e., the present CalFed bureaucratic attempt to restore fisheries, have water security for everyone, and end the water wars. Carle inspires us to save what is left of California. Californians can choose population growth control rather than the continuing spiral of population increase and never-ending demand for water in the water-short West. After reading this book I think most would agree that we had better hurry up and make this choice.”–Lee W. Miller Fishery Scientist and Board Member of Californians for Population Stabilization

“For anyone at all interested in water issues in California, this book must go on your bookshelf alongside your DVD of Roman Polanski's Chinatown. Masterfully researching his subject--from newspaper clippings to first-person accounts--David has done a wonderful thing in this book. He not only brings the history of the state alive through his writing but he does something else--which I consider very difficult and very smart--he uses this history as a foundation for a deeper consideration of the future--for helping us understand where we might go from here.”–Thomas Curwen Deputy Book Editor Los Angeles Times

From the Inside Flap

"Water has always been the defining element in California's history, driving its dreams of expansion. Carle tells that story well--but what his inventive and informative text also demonstrates is that if the state does not soon turn back on its own history, its infatuation with limitless growth and the water to supply it may create a world too ugly to contemplate."--T. H. Watkins, Wallace Stegner Professor of Western American Studies, Montana State University

"This book belongs in the hands of anyone interested in California's history and future."--Sally Gaines, co-founder, Mono Lake Committee --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (February 28, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275967190
• ISBN-13: 978-0275967192
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,266,118 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

DAVID CARLE grew up in Orange County, California, received his bachelors degree at UC Davis in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and a masters degree from CSU Sacramento in Recreation and Parks Administration. He was a ranger in California State Parks for 27 years; including the Mendocino Coast, Hearst Castle, the Auburn State Recreation Area (in the gold country of the Sierra foothills), and the State Indian Museum in Sacramento. From 1982 through 2000, at the Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve, he shared the unit ranger position with his wife, participating in the long effort to protect that Eastern Sierra inland sea from the effects of stream diversions to Los Angeles. He taught biology and natural history courses at Cerro Coso Community College, the Eastern Sierra College Center in Mammoth Lakes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can we keep the California Dream alive?, April 2, 2000

By 

Geoffrey McQuilkin (Eastern Sierra, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drowning the Dream: California's Water Choices at the Millennium (Hardcover)

This book addresses some of the most important issues facing California in light of the population growth and new demands for water projected for the decades ahead. Discussions of population and growth control are often difficult, but in Drowning the Dream David Carle brings a new, strongly reasoned approach to the table. In the process, Carle takes on the ultimate questions of California water politics: What kind of state do we want to live in? How much more growth does California really need? Can we keep the California Dream alive? California is naturally limited by its water supply and, therefore, water can be the tool to limit the state's future growth naturally--once we finally abandon the untenable proposal that more water can always be found. Also, Drowning the Dream is more than a policy book; Carle paints a rich picture of California historical natural resources from presettlement days to the present, using a wide range of historical documents and illustrations.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well done, April 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Drowning the Dream: California's Water Choices at the Millennium (Hardcover)

David Carle brings patience, passion and objectivity to a popular but little-understood topic -- the development and future of California's water situation. A wealth of historical tidbits and comments and a no-footnote style accommodate all readers -- hurried, relaxed, studious or pleasure-seeking. The theme -- that the growth pattern of LA was not inevitable, and neither is its future -- is applicable to many situations, large and small, past and future, personal and public. The reader may choose who the heroes and villians are, but the point is that choice must be informed, and this book will help every reader immensely in making their next water bond choice.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let California's Water History be a Lesson, August 7, 2005

By 

Philip Carl "EcoAngler" (Half Moon Bay, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Water and the California Dream: Choices for the New Millennium (Paperback)

David Carle takes a fresh approach to documenting California's development in light of water resources. It's an approach tinted with hope. Basically, Californians still have choices to make. But, I have to say it's tough seeing California's water glass as half full. Especially after reading about the complete crash in the salmon and steelhead runs up and down the state's watersheds. It almost brought me to tears when I read:

"In 1996, only about 1,014 miles of stream remained of the 2,113 miles of Central Valley streams originally used by Chinook salmon." Or, "The spring run of Chinook on the San Joaquin River once numbered up to a half-million fish. Salmon runs ended, completely, on that drainage after Friant Dam."

The author sprinkles a number of "what if" scenarios in the early parts of the book (e.g., what would the Owen's Valley be like today if not for Mulholland, etc.). It's fun to ponder -if not too late to change, it would be useful to ponder. There's a strong longing and sense of nostalgia for the pre sprawl days of Southern California in the book. I came across any number of quotes from old-timers about "the air in Los Angeles being clear" or "you could smell the citrus blossoms for miles." I wonder what the Miwok or any of the other tribes inhabiting California would have said before the ranchers, farmers, and miners arrived. Ah, wouldn't we all long for the days of the Golden State at the peak of her unexploited beauty and natural bounty - I know I do.

One key pivot point for California's future is its farmland. It boils down to a question of whether to grow sub-divisions or almonds. In the last part of the book, Carle really hits his strive and represents the reader with the cold, sober reality of California's future - we are losing farmlands at a constant and rapid rate to housing developments.

The book's merits are in drawing the clear lines between California's past decisions about water development and the current mess that has resulted. Putting aside the unmatched economic and population growth, and whether that's been a net positive for the state and it's inhabitants or not, this author gives equal time to the "hidden costs." The loss of habitat, altered eco-systems, reduced bio-diversity, polluted air and water and extinction of species are all costs that California is paying today.

The question remains how much more growth, if any, can our water resources continue to fuel. Ultimately, California has a choice to make today - stabilize or continue unbounded growth. The book closes with constructive and well thought approaches to making that choice.

I applaud Mr. Carle for his work.