Book Reviews

Water and Climate in the Western United States , W.M. Lewis ( Editor ). University Press of Colorado , 5589 Arapahoe Ave., Ste. 206 C, Boulder, CO 80393 ( http://www.ucolorado.com). September 2006 , 294 pages. $30 . ISBN 0-87081-854-6 . The changes caused by climate on the hydrologic cycle are likely to be where society will experience severe disruptions as it adapts to changing global conditions. Water and Climate is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary look at how well we understand this linkage. The book addresses two questions: Can better understanding of climate variability improve water management plans? What institutional preparation is needed to create the flexibility to deal with the temporal and spatial changes predicted to come with climate variability? The book derives from a June 1999 workshop on climate variability and water resources under the joint sponsorship of the University of Colorado’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science and NOAA’s Office of Global Programs. Four parts of the book cover understanding the predicting climate variability, linking prediction of climate, and hydrology, using climate predictions in water management, and social and institutional problems associated with climate variability. Chapters 4, 8, and 12 are summaries of workshop discussions, with Chapter 17 being an overall summary. Each part has four short chapters that develop each topic. Climate change will clearly alter the temporal and spatial distribution of water. In the arid West, one of the biggest predicted changes is the amount of water stored as snow and used for irrigation. With 80-90% of consumptive water use in the West going to irrigation, changes in water timing, location, and amount (Chapter 4) will increase tensions between agriculture and urban water users and uses (Chapter 17). Emphasized throughout the book is that current institutions need to be reconfigured to deal effectively with water issues that result from future climate variability. Further, many institutions not currently thought to affect water management need to be brought into discussions about climate variability. For example, land use planning can have very significant impacts on water use and availability (Chapter 13), as can changing social values (Chapter 16), adjudication of water rights, particularly reserved rights (Chapter 14), and being careful not to get “signals” crossed between groups (Chapter 17). The first part of this book looks at the arid West’s experience over 150 years of development in the face of water shortage. Water and Climate combines this knowledge with description of the probabilistic nature of forecasting (Chapter 1), historic climate records (Chapter 2), and longer term climate records (Chapter 3). The application of climate data to improve hydrologic predictability is the focus of the second part of the book. Significant advances in better recent understanding of ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation, Chapter 5) events, reservoir operation (Chapter 6), and PDO (Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Chapter 7) show how better climate prediction might be possible and useful. The third part of the book asks about linking climate knowledge and modeling to water management planning. Impressive advances have been made in understanding climate and the factors associated with climate variability, but managers say that climate data and modeling need more fine tuning, better large and small scale resolution, and higher levels of predictability. Managers note that they are already using available data to build management plans with stakeholder involvement (Chapters 9 and 10). Chapter 11 reviews the South Platte basin history, where surface water and ground water rights are linked and infrastructure is built to allow for ground water recharge to deal with surface water drought conditions. This is an instructive example of planning and education coming together to deal with extreme conditions. In the fourth part of the book past social and institutional performances are evaluated and recommendations on ways to approach future water issues are made. This part highlights the difficulties in linking science, management, and public understanding. One of the main drivers exacerbating problems of climate variability is the demands of population growth (Chapter 13). A comprehensive review of water law and institutions (Chapter 14) suggests that states have done little to revise antiquated laws and institutions. States are woefully unprepared to deal with the magnitude of changes that climate models suggest are possible. The response of California to drought in the 1990s (Chapter 15) suggests that “necessity is the mother of invention.” California responded to the drought with such measures as dealing with water scarcity through recycling, irrigation pricing reforms, gray water standards, water reclamation, water transfers, water markets, and legal changes and adaptations (Chapters 5 and 15). Yet, in Chapter 16 warnings that planning for change will be better than waiting to respond to a climate variability crisis is proposed. The chapters in the fourth part suggest the need to begin with planning a program of public education and involvement regarding climate variability. A program in which one of the workshop participants is active, and builds on the book’s recommendation that scientists, managers, and the public better communicate. The program is in the Canadian portion of the upper Columbia Basin (cbc.ca/bc/news/061019_climate.pdf). The concept used to engage the public is to get them to think about climate change through their many linkages with the hydrologic cycle. Discussions include the redesign of water infrastructure, design of roads for landslide protection, water conservation education, designing houses and communities to increase water use efficiency, strengthening community emergency preparedness, consideration of future climate conditions when doing reforestation and planning, and understanding the linkages between surface and ground water processes to reduce flooding and increase storage. First published in hardback in 2003, the 2006 paperback version of Water and Climate adds to the growing concern about a global water crisis. The Human Development Report 2006 and the United Nations General Assembly’s declaration of the decade 2005-2015 as a time to focus on water issues are examples. BBC News, Canada’s International Development Research Center, Nature, USAID, Water Partners International, and the World Water Council are among many organizations pointing to a water short future because of increased water demands and projected change to the spatial and temporal distribution of water. Water and Climate sounds a warning, offers ways to better use climate science in management, and points to social and institutional challenges that need addressing. The book’s focus is mostly on the arid West. While two-thirds of the authors have Colorado affiliations, the examples discussed are translatable to water issues worldwide. The observation of water managers that they do not feel climate science is well enough developed to be useful is not unique to the arid West. Nor is concern for the effectiveness of water management institutions. Hopeful examples from the book suggest that with leadership and foresighted planning problems can be addressed and institutions adapted. To achieve success scientists, managers, and the public need to come together to change antiquated laws, institutions, and practices with the goal of being able to effectively respond to climate variations outside of historic experience and known ranges. Courtland L. Smith Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University 238 Waldo Hall Corvallis, OR 97331-6403 Rivers by Design: State Powers and the Origins of U.S. Flood Control , K.M. O’Neill . Duke University Press , Durham, NC 27708-0660 . June 2006 . 278 . pages $80 ($23 paper ). ISBN 0-8223-3773-8 . O’Neill’s book traces the history and political economy of managed rivers in the United States with an emphasis on the Mississippi and Sacramento River valleys. The importance and development of organizations to advocate and carry out river modifications are discussed. Chapter 1 points out that at first navigation was considered to be a Federal government responsibility, while flood control should be carried out on a local basis. By linking floods to the national economy, local elites were able to make flood control a national concern in spite of the objection that it represented a production subsidy to local growers unavailable to growers in other regions. Flood control expenditures are, therefore, pitted against other region’s needs and other national needs. Chapter 2 suggests national markets, economic development, and industrialization as justifications for provision of Federal funds for navigation and flood control. The 1840s saw the first benefit-cost analysis tools being developed and applied. Chapter 3 explains that the Mississippi River was seen as a key highway for Westward expansion. Government policies encouraged regional settlement and settlers demanded flood protection. Some improvements and governing organizations were already in place since colonial times. Northern states opposed public projects in the lower Mississippi as they were developing their own transportation system and were no longer dependent on Southern cotton. Chapter 4 points out that Midwestern grain was being shipped by rail and waterway to the East Coast while bypassing the Mississippi River system. The Northern industrial base was becoming more important than the Southern cotton based economy. Competition was building between regions for the effects of government policies. Government financing of levees and navigation improvements in the South became difficult. However, land grants of swamp land areas became popular in Congress. As a result, southern forestry and agriculture prospered. Chapter 5 discusses the post-Civil War period in the Mississippi Valley. Politics focused on the national duty to aid the economy of all regions. Economic intervention was led by Congress. Industrialization changed many old political alliances, and the Civil War had caused destruction and stopped shipping on the Mississippi. Freed men were often farming land on the bottomlands, thus spreading some of the risk of flooding from the large planters. Many policies, including levee building, were suggested or implemented to reduce the flood risk to agriculture. These policies are discussed in detail. The conflict between the miners and the farmers in the Sacramento River Valley is discussed in Chapter 6. Hydraulic mining produced debris that reduced downstream agriculture profitability and the number of navigation channels. A flood in 1861-1862 carried debris that severely damaged a number of cities. This caused mining to lose its politically favored status. Eventually, hydraulic mining was found to be unprofitable, and farming interests became more important. Chapter 7 discusses political differences between mining and agricultural interests in the Sacramento River Valley. Coordination of levee building became an important objective, so levee districts were organized. Lawsuits were initiated by farmers against mining interests. The arguments of both miners and agriculture are detailed. Farmers were interested in irrigation and flood control issues. The development of Federal aid is discussed in Chapter 8. National and Regional interest group activities are carefully described. River development became a national issue with various projects and proposals discussed in detail. The development of special interest organizations for rivers is explored. It is shown that major flood events tended to increase interest and support for river design at the Federal level. In Chapter 9, the duty of the government to protect life and property through river redesign is discussed. The Flood Control Act of 1917 and the reaction to the flood of 1927 are major influences cited. Flood control is shown to be in the National interest. The politics and proposals for a large and varied number of policies are discussed in detail. The somewhat popular policy of levees only is shown to be inadequate. New Deal policies and programs that affected river design occupy much of Chapter 10. Many proposals for Valley authorities and other proposals are examined in detail. O’Neill suggests that the Tennessee Valley Authority was the most successful of these proposals. The influences of events and specific individuals or groups on policy and decision making are reviewed. Persistent river management problems and the history of policy after the New Deal are also presented. The final chapter contains several short paragraphs that discuss various continuing issues in river design. It is pointed out that environmental reform goals do not fit well into the current system of project distribution. This book is of special interest to historians, lawyers, political representatives, and political scientists that work with water and river development. Those interested in the history of river management will appreciate the table of Mississippi River Improvement Conventions found in Appendix 1. While the Mississippi and Sacramento valleys are most represented, readers generally interested in river development can profit from reading this book. Donald E. Agthe 2509 North Campbell Ave., PMB 133 Tucson, AZ 85719 Water Quality Engineering in Natural Systems , David A. Chin . John Wiley and Sons, Inc. , 111 River St., Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 . 2006 . 610 pages. $120 . ISBN 0-471-71830-0 . For readers desiring an overview of water quality control techniques for natural systems, this book provides a solid introduction to concepts, which are essential to those working in the field of environmental engineering. The book is quite readable by those with a basic understanding of calculus, and it contains numerous examples, making it ideal for students and professors alike. While Dr. Chin states that the text is “most appropriate for seniors and first-year graduate students in environmental and civil engineering programs” as well as those “with backgrounds in environmental science,” readers in the latter category may be less interested in the mathematical derivations. The many examples and numerous literature citations that Dr. Chin skillfully weaves throughout the text will appeal to readers both new and experienced in the field of water quality engineering. >In this book, Dr. Chin not only examines the fate and transport of contaminants in natural systems, but he also explores point and nonpoint sources within the watersheds, as well as remediation techniques to ameliorate the effects of anthropogenic contaminants. A portion of the text is also dedicated to discussing current water quality laws and regulations, as well as providing readers with an introduction to the most widely employed means of measuring water quality in natural water bodies. Dr. Chin has divided the major body types of streams, lakes and reservoirs, wetlands, ground water, and oceans and estuaries into separate chapters, thereby providing the reader with a more in-depth examination of the particular contaminant fate and transport processes in each system. The transformation of theoretical concepts into readily understandable real-world applications is one of the book’s greatest strengths. The book, however, could be improved by more equal coverage of all water bodies. Ground water received a greater percentage of coverage than the other water bodies, which may be a consideration for some readers. The book could be improved by the inclusion of more appropriate photographs, as their black-and-white nature made it difficult to identify what the author was describing. Also readers interested in restoration, mediation, or management design techniques will receive only conceptual discussions. Dr. Chin has provided the field of water quality engineering with a useful text, particularly in the area of fate and transport processes in the major water body types. I would recommend this text for engineering classes as it covers a wide array of topics, is easily readable, and contains a large number of examples. Classrooms comprised of nonengineering students would likely find that the book contained too much mathematical content. Professionals interested in obtaining an overview of the area of water quality engineering will also find the book useful; however, the book will be less helpful to those desiring more in-depth coverage of a particular water body or design assistance for restoration techniques. In summary, I view this text as a useful addition to the libraries of environmental engineers. Carmen T. Agouridis Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40546-0276 Frontiers in Flood Research , I. Tchiguirinskaia et al. ( Editors ). IAHS Press, Center for Ecology and , . 2006 . pages. . ISBN . This book provides new and into key issues of flood with a particular focus on flood risk management and development. 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