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The West without Water: What Past Floods, Droughts, and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us about Tomorrow Paperback – February 12, 2015

by B. Lynn Ingram (Author), Frances Malamud-Roam (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 112 ratings
Editors' pick Best Nonfiction
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The West without Water documents the tumultuous climate of the American West over twenty millennia, with tales of past droughts and deluges and predictions about the impacts of future climate change on water resources. Looking at the region’s current water crisis from the perspective of its climate history, the authors ask the central question of what is “normal” climate for the West, and whether the relatively benign climate of the past century will continue into the future.

The West without Water merges climate and paleoclimate research from a wide variety of sources as it introduces readers to key discoveries in cracking the secrets of the region’s climatic past. It demonstrates that extended droughts and catastrophic floods have plagued the West with regularity over the past two millennia and recounts the most disastrous flood in the history of California and the West, which occurred in 1861–62. The authors show that, while the West may have temporarily buffered itself from such harsh climatic swings by creating artificial environments and human landscapes, our modern civilization may be ill-prepared for the future climate changes that are predicted to beset the region. They warn that it is time to face the realities of the past and prepare for a future in which fresh water may be less reliable.
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  1. Print length
    280 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    University of California Press
  4. Publication date
    February 12, 2015
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0520286006
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0520286009
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A masterful portrait of how water shaped the American West. . . . Part detective story, part call to action, this book offers vital advice on how to fix the West's looming water crisis." -- Lee Billings ― Scientific American Published On: 2013-08-01

"Reads with the surprising velocity of a murder mystery and the intrigue of a rigorous, detective investigation." -- Lou Fancher ― Lamorinda Weekly Published On: 2013-10-23

"Could California run dry? As the West endures its driest year on record, having enough freshwater isn't a given―nor has it ever been, despite society's efforts to conserve and control it. Ingram and Malamud-Roam share how climate change has historically parched the landscape of the West and will lead to extreme water crises in the not-so-far future. Their foresight makes a compelling case for reducing our water footprint." ― Stanford Magazine Published On: 2014-03-01

"Given California's importance in our economy and culture and the intensity with which climate vagaries affect that state, 'The West without Water' is an important and timely addition to your library whether you live in California or not." -- Anne Jefferson ― Earth Magazine Published On: 2014-05-01

"An interdisciplinary, deeply researched, and well-written book." ― Water and Power Published On: 2014-01-14

"This authoritative yet accessible overview of the accumulating paleo evidence concerning climate variability in the Western United States, especially over the past millennium or so, was published as California was undergoing a historic drought, so The West Without Water was timely, and continues to be... comprehensive." ― AAG Review of Books

From the Inside Flap

Ingram and Malamud-Roam s book presents a remarkable mix of science, paleoclimatology, history, and poetic writing, telling the story of water in the West and how it is intimately tied to the Earth s varying climate. The authors vividly remind us of two things: first, society ignores the lessons of past climatic extremes at our peril, and second, we can no longer assume that the past is a reliable guide to the future, as human influence over the climate grows. The climate is changing, and our relationship to it must change as well. This book tells us how. Peter Gleick, author of Bottled and Sold and coauthor of A Twenty-First Century U.S. Water Policy

"Earth s climate has changed before, but always on a geological time scale. By burning millions of years worth of fossil fuels in a couple of centuries, humans have now forced atmospheric change onto our time scale. To make matters worse, in the American Southwest we have built a civilization on the assumption that we can get away with it. As The West without Water eloquently and passionately reveals, we can t." James Lawrence Powell, author of Dead Pool

In this intriguing account of a past more distant than any we have known, these authors offer us all the rare gift of foresight about what counts the most: the direction our society must take to sustain the richness of life on earth." Tim Palmer, author of Rivers of California and Lifelines: The Case for River Conservation

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of California Press; First Edition (February 12, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 280 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0520286006
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0520286009
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.02 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 112 ratings

About the authors

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  1. B. Lynn Ingram

    B. Lynn Ingram

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    B. Lynn Ingram

    B. Lynn Ingram is a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at UC Berkeley, California. She was born in Denver, Colorado, and has since lived Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Australia, and the San Francisco Bay area. She has bachelor's and master's degrees from UCLA, and a Ph.D in Geology from Stanford University. She is a recipient of a senior Fulbright Scholar award, and is a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. She enjoys hiking the mountains of the majestic West, skiing (those same mountains!), yoga, and spending time with her wonderful family anywhere they will go with her! "The West without Water" is her first book, and was a labor of love.

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  2. Frances Malamud-Roam

    Frances Malamud-Roam

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
112 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the content very informative, easy to follow, and excellent. They also say the book is data-driven and points out climate.

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ContentReadability
27 customers mention "Content"25 positive2 negative

Customers find the book very informative, highly readable, and a highly comprehensible scientific account of the history of climate. They also appreciate the good compilation of methods used to reconstruct weatherrecords extending back in time. Readers also mention that the book provides a clear and concise history of the climate within the West, and is easy to follow.

"...the connections between climate and water supply in a way that is easy to follow, and points out how both climate and water availability have..." Read more

"...However the explanations for various types of natural phenomena are excellent, such as how El Niño and La Niña form and these kinds of narratives..." Read more

"The book was very informative. Enjoyed it...." Read more

"Love this book!! A must read for the real information and about history of the west.." Read more

20 customers mention "Readability"20 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written, entertaining, and well-thought-out. They also say it's an excellent read and a well-done treatise on what we can expect in the future.

"...Overall, a well-written book, entertaining and informative; an excellent read!" Read more

"...how El Niño and La Niña form and these kinds of narratives make it worth the read...." Read more

"Well written, well thought out treatise on what we can expect in the future for California and the west...." Read more

"...Overall, it was a good read." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

SamNed76
5.0 out of 5 stars Important issues clearly described
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2013
Verified Purchase
I highly recommend this enlightening book that is a wake up call about potential water shortages and floods in the western U.S. The book explains the connections between climate and water supply in a way that is easy to follow, and points out how both climate and water availability have changed dramatically in the past. The authors make a compelling case for why it is important to understand past climate change. Temperature, precipitation, types of vegetation, and wildfire frequency have had large swings over the past hundreds to thousands of years. They argue that over the past 150 years -the period of major population growth and water development - climate in the western United States has been relatively wet, but the region's climate history suggests that conditions could change back to a drier state in the near future. In one chapter the authors summarize the potential impacts of climate change to the region, and cite evidence that this climate change has already begun. They also argue that global warming, reduced precipitation with increased evaporation, and the earlier onset of Spring are all linked with larger forest fires. We are apparently seeing these projected future impacts happening now. The chapter on the 1861 megaflood was particularly intriguing - I was not aware that such huge floods had occurred in California, and there is every reason to believe that they could occur again. Overall, a well-written book, entertaining and informative; an excellent read!
19 people found this helpful
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Ted Clifford
4.0 out of 5 stars One good story of water issues in the American Southwest
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2014
Verified Purchase
Written by scientists, this book is very informative, but the writing style is not as sophisticated as would be expected from a true professional writer. However the explanations for various types of natural phenomena are excellent, such as how El Niño and La Niña form and these kinds of narratives make it worth the read. Most of the story concerns California which right now has critical water issues but does deal with the more inland regions of the American Southwest with the same concern, but certainly not with the same emphasis as given California. The work should be taken as one of many stories of the plight of the American Southwest that deals with its dwindling but also variable set of water resources and how human impacts need to be modified if there is to be any future not only for this area of the country but all of the U.S. as we are all dependent on this area for much of our basic food.
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RSW
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2021
Verified Purchase
The book was very informative. Enjoyed it. Although I am skeptical about man made global warming, the discussions regarding man made global warming were objective and not political.
One person found this helpful
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Debbie
5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative!!! The real story..
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2021
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Love this book!! A must read for the real information and about history of the west..
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for anyone in the western U.S.
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2014
Verified Purchase
Well written, well thought out treatise on what we can expect in the future for California and the west. Water planning as it currently is, is based on weather patterns over the last 150 years - and these are atypical of historical and paleontological records. Dr Ingram lays out the research and historical record (flood of 1861-62) illustrating droughts interspersed with mega floods that have plagued this area for millennium. One quickly sees that the current paltry and ill-advised state policies on water distribution are nothing more than rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Definitely required reading for anyone holding sway on water policy in California.
2 people found this helpful
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The Traveling Monk
3.0 out of 5 stars We had better get ready for the shortages
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2013
Verified Purchase
The book presents a series of markers concerning water and climate in the West. Chapter after chapter the evidence is presented to show that we have been living in a fairly wet time for the last 100 years, and the likelihood of the West being a lot drier than it has been is very high -- even coupled with some outlier wet events that should happen with regularity.

The book suffers from being a bit juvenile: "Now here is what I told you in this chapter and here's what we will say in the next one." While that device is perhaps useful, it happens several times per chapter, so I got fairly tired of reading all the forecasts of what was to be said soon.

The summary chapters start to present some actions that need to be taken. Such actions are probably unlikely to occur, so that part of the book is less relevant than the collection of information into a single book.

Overall, it was a good read.
15 people found this helpful
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Scott M. Kruse
4.0 out of 5 stars Conservation and Efficiency
Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2013
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In western North America (and world wide), THEE coming problem is water. For too long we have substituted water for knowledge, instead of applying the knowledge. Energy and water are now coming together and we are uncomfortable and are not sure what to do. The solution: conservation and efficiency, plus fewer humans and human demands. This is not likely to occur overnight, but we do know what to do. What is different about this book is that it is a more comprehensive look at water.

When we reach a limit we do not know what to do or can only think of existing alternatives. This makes a good connection with climate and acknowledges the norm is the extremes, very wet and very dry. This effort ignores effective moisture, it is not what you get (precipitation), but the water balance. Until we acknowledge climatic constraints and begin climate-appropriate living with a long-term (≥ 30 years) perspective, we are destined to be frustrated when it comes to water in the west. A major solution is acknowledging effective moisture (precipitation - evapotranspiration), not just precipitation and pricing water appropriately.

Much of the western United States should have double water meters (new and used). Even when water is unlimited, it still takes energy to move and process the water. Many areas are experiencing subsidence (aquifer collapse) as land owners pump for the last drop and then some. Las Vegas, even situated next to Lake Mead continues to reach out and transfer water from distance places - while being in denial of the arid setting. Ground water should be adjudicated somehow, instead of being another chapter in the "tragedy of the commons," we must carefully limit our use of water, not transfer water from place to place. We must recognize that water is frequently transferred in the form of crops such as alfalfa and milk.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Hbsc Xris
5.0 out of 5 stars Une mise au point intéressante face aux hystéries catastrophistes des médias
Reviewed in France on October 22, 2021
Verified Purchase
Après les délires catastrophistes devenus usuels de la presse à la suite des incendies de l'été dernier, j'ai voulu en savoir plus sur le plan de l'histoire climatique de l'ouest américain. Vivons nous réellement une époque exceptionnelle ? Qui de mieux pour en parler qu'une universitaire US biologiste et géologue et spécialiste de l'histoire du climat ?
Et bien j'ai été servie ! Nous vivons depuis environ 2 siècles (pour l'ouest US en général et la Californie en particulier) une époque bien peu extrême sur le plan climatique, en dépit de quelques grosses sécheresses et de quelques grosses inondations.
L'histoire du climat de l'ouest américain est tout, sauf un long fleuve tranquille. Que les catastrophistes du climat lisent ce livre, ils relativiseront ensuite.
L'auteur n'est absolument pas climato-sceptique et ne nie pas le réchauffement actuel mais relativise les choses. Elle a cependant soin ici et là d'ajouter des petits paragraphes, presque un peu décalés par rapport à l'ensemble du livre, mais prouvant son allégeance au GIEC. Quand on a pas fini sa carrière et qu'on veut qu'elle dure, c'est aujourd'hui indispensable.
A lire si on veut réfléchir par soi-même.
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