Customer Reviews

Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S.

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Barnett, an experienced journalist, currently writing for a Florida business magazine, has put together a compelling tale of the drying out of the Eastern seaboard of the United States. Her main emphasis is Florida, once so wet that it couldn't be walked through, now - because of staggering population growth and mismanaged development - plagued by repeated droughts. Before I read this book I had no idea there was a story to be told about water supply in the East - and I certainly wouldn't have guessed that I would have found that story to be so engrossing. But Barnett has a journalist's eye for the telling detail, combined with a sharp appreciation of the science, and a great feel for the overall picture. This is a great book, and it will open many people's eyes to the need to be smarter with what she wisely calls, "Our greatest natural resource."

Perhaps you're like me. You live in a water rich region of the U.S., on top of one of the nation's most productive aquifers and a stone's throw from the Great Lakes -- one of the world's great reservoirs of fresh water.

Water scarcity is not your problem, right? Let all those fools moving to Florida, Texas, California and Nevada worry whether FEMA will have to roll into towns during the next drought and pass out bottled water. You can still turn on your grass sprinkler and catch fish in the local pond without worry.

If that's where you are when it comes to water, Cynthia Barnett has news for you -- someday Las Vegas and Miami will be coming for your water, too. And they'll set their sights on draining your fish pond dry.

If you're already in Florida and can't understand why water bills are going up in a subdivision surrounded by water-soaked scenery, Barnett has some tough love for you, too.

Reading Mirage will open your eyes. Barnett's writing is so (pardon the pun) fluid that even the most unsophisticated novice will come away with the ability to confidently explain why bottled "spring" water may actually be less safe to drink than what comes out of your kitchen tap.

The book is a must read for Floridians. It uses the state -- an extreme example of water policy gone bad -- to instruct readers in the basics tenents of environmental protection and why it matters to everyone. Why should Floridians care if Atlanta suburbanites water their lawns? Because in a drought the rivers that begin in Georgia won't have enough water to feed Florida's bays down stream. And without the perfect freshwater/saltwater balance at the outlet to the Gulf of Mexico, valuable shellfish are completely wiped out. Suddenly there's an economic problem, too.

The most important lesson of Mirage is that water scarcity is a national problem. Consider the water wealthy Great Lakes. Even residents of the upper Midwest can't relax. Barnett shows how southern lawmakers, becoming more powerful by the day thanks to population shifts and redistricting, have been plotting to pipe, truck and barge Lakes region freshwater south. Others have already tried to export it beyond the U.S. You'd think the Lakes have plenty of water to share, but as Florida has proven, even the most water-rich region can see its eco-system wrecked once the water starts getting pumped out.

The most instructive chapter in the book is called "Priceless." Barnett demonstrates that perhaps the best strategy to protect water is to price it right, to make it really worth something to us. But Americans so far refuse to accept the notion of drinking water for anything but a dirt cheap price. Consider the story of Tuscon, Ariz. After a drought, the city council tried to add the cost of finding future water reserves into consumers' bills. Within a year every council member was voted out of office.

But as Barnett shows, Americans can't pretend forever that water is a right and should be nearly free. We have to be taught to conserve. We're doing better in some ways. But Mirage proves we still have a lot of work to do.

This an excellent expose of the fresh water availability crisis faced by Florida as its population growth continues unabated. Also, it addresses very well the overall water supply problems of the Eastern United States while focusing on Florida as the prime example of poor planning. Based on her extensive experience as an award winning investigative journalist Cynthia Barnett has written about a critical national problem which she has extensively researched and documented. The hard facts are interspersed with interesting vignettes about several important Florida personalities who had major impacts, for better or worse, on all facets of the State's natural environment. This is a highly readable and very informative book. It is a must read book for anyone who wants to truly understand the fresh water crisis we face in America and the unfortunate legacy we would leave to future generations without proactive solutions.

'MIRAGE': This book is a fascinating read. It is shocking, frightening, and sad. We in the East who think water is plentiful and inexhaustible and that 'water battles' occur only in the West will see a very different picture. The book is full of facts and extensively footnoted. It should be the 'call to arms' not only for the experts but for the silent majority. (eg the 'Silent Spring' of water). A tidbit: Pinellas County Florida (St. Petersburg) has no remaining drinkable ground water!) Don Miles, Raleigh, NC. Layman in 'Water' but I love the stuff!

Discussions of America's water problems usually are limited to the West, so it's eye-opening to view a title which is the first to call attention to the disappearance of fresh water from Florida to the Great Lakes. From the high demands of newly-sprawling Florida subdivisions to freshwater aquifers which are disappearing elsewhere, MIRAGE blends investigative journalism with environmental and science history to prove an essential survey of problems and solutions. A 'must' not just for Eastern U.S. libraries, but for any collection on environmental issues and challenges.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch

A very thoughtful, well-written book that delves into the science, history and politics of water in Florida and manages to do so in an interesting and readable manner. Cynthia Barnett clearly indentifies the problems and offers reasonable solutions without becoming judgemental or dogmatic. A must read for anyone living in the State of Florida or planning to do so and highly recommended for everyone else!

Cynthia Barnett is a journalist with a passion for the environment. A native Floridian, she has seen the change that those of us who have spent our lives in this state, have watched come too quickly. Once a tangle of marsh and woods, dotted with urban outcroppings, Florida has become a vast jigsaw puzzle of urban and suburban sprawl. Water, once considered too plentiful, is becoming a scarce commodity here...the focus of battles which are already beginning. To those not yet to the battlefield, Mirage sheds light on the problems we are creating by our lack of foresight. To those already leading the charge, it is a guidebook filled with data to show both the damage we have already caused and that which we will continue to cause if chganges aren't made. Mirage is also a call to action. Those who care can make a difference that will save Florida for future generations.

Outstanding book. It shows us how we let our environment get downgraded and is an important weapon for preventing further damage. Amazon price was good and service great.

Mirage is a work of science and passion. The writer has focused on that most important, scarce, and necessary resource: fresh water. She explores the political decisions and the business decisions that have affected the water supply in Florida and the rest of the East Coast of the United States. Her research is extensive; her prose is crisp; and her cause is sanity in the management of growth. I recommend this book for any reader who has an interest in science, nature, or business.

The book itself is fabulous! It's really detailed. But the book itself was a bit more torn than indicated in the description. The binding was loose, so I have to be careful how I hold it so that it doesn't fall apart.