Cadillac Desert (1986)

Cadillac Desert (1986) by Marc Reisner. This excellent cultural and environmental history of the western US and the history of how water is used, abused and allocated. Published in 1986, it is amazing how right the author was about so many things that are now coming true. The history of planning for water that is not there and never would be is quite amazing. The first half of the book is a great chronology of how water was managed, how and why the damns were built, the well known story of Mulhalland and the Los Angeles water systems. It is interesting to see that our present situation was being predicted for decades, but no one took any actions around it.