A Doubtful River (Environmental Arts & Humanities) - Hardcover

University Of Nevada Press

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0874173493 ISBN 13: 9780874173499

Publisher: University of Nevada Press, 2003

Synopsis

This work reveals the uses and abuses of the Truckee River and documents the continual debates over its distribution to meet diverse demands, ultimately asking the question of what will happen to the rapidly dwindling water supply of the arid West?

About this title

Review

"A Doubtful River "is a documentary project that has resulted in a beautiful and quite readable book that is of interest to a great many of us and that should be required reading for the residents of Reno and the surrounding region.... Webb's essays are poignant and well written, at times playful and at other times critical. Dawson's and Goin's photographs are, without exception, superb, defining place and the precise moments of place. While doubt about the Truckee's future remains, the craftsmanship of A Doubtful River "is without doubt."

About the Author

Winner of the Wilbur S. Shepperson Humanities Book Award, A Doubtful River reveals the uses and abuses of the Truckee River and documents the continual debates over its distribution to meet diverse demands, ultimately asking the question of what will happen to the rapidly dwindling water supply of the arid West? Robert Dawson's and Peter Goin's eloquent photographs record unforgettable images of the Truckee's course from pineclad mountains to the sagebrush-covered vastness of the high desert and the ways the river and the land beside it have been used and reshaped by human needs, greed, and carelessness. Mary Webb's essays offer a moving verbal counterpoint, focusing on the people who depend on and adjudicate the river's water. The sum of the elements of this book is a memorable picture of the complexity of water allocation in a region where conflicting traditions about the uses of the land and its resources, a rapidly growing population, and limited supply make water the most precious commodity of all.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Nevada Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0874173493
• ISBN 13: 9780874173499
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 159