Mythical River: Chasing The Mirage Of New Water In The American Southwest
by Melissa L. Sevigny /
2016 / English / PDF
5.9 MB Download
In a lyrical mix of natural science, history, and memoir, Melissa
L. Sevigny ponders what it means to make a home in the American
Southwest at a time when its most essential resource, water, is
overexploited and undervalued.
In a lyrical mix of natural science, history, and memoir, Melissa
L. Sevigny ponders what it means to make a home in the American
Southwest at a time when its most essential resource, water, is
overexploited and undervalued.Mythical River
Mythical River takes the
reader on a historical sojourn into the story of the
Buenaventura, an imaginary river that led eighteenth- and
nineteenth-century explorers, fur trappers, and emigrants astray
for seventy-five years. This mythical river becomes a metaphor
for our modern-day attempts to supply water to a growing
population in the Colorado River Basin. Readers encounter a
landscape literally remapped by the search for “new” water, where
rivers flow uphill, dams and deep wells reshape geography, trees
become intolerable competitors for water, and new technologies
tap into clouds and oceans.
takes the
reader on a historical sojourn into the story of the
Buenaventura, an imaginary river that led eighteenth- and
nineteenth-century explorers, fur trappers, and emigrants astray
for seventy-five years. This mythical river becomes a metaphor
for our modern-day attempts to supply water to a growing
population in the Colorado River Basin. Readers encounter a
landscape literally remapped by the search for “new” water, where
rivers flow uphill, dams and deep wells reshape geography, trees
become intolerable competitors for water, and new technologies
tap into clouds and oceans.
In contrast to this fantasy of abundance, Sevigny explores acts
of restoration. From a dismantled dam in Arizona to an accidental
wetland in Mexico, she examines how ecologists, engineers,
politicians, and citizens have attempted to secure water for
desert ecosystems. In a place scarred by conflict, she shows how
recognizing the rights of rivers is a path toward water security.
Ultimately, Sevigny writes a new map for the future of the
American Southwest, a vision of a society that accepts the
desert’s limits in exchange for an intimate relationship with the
natural world.
In contrast to this fantasy of abundance, Sevigny explores acts
of restoration. From a dismantled dam in Arizona to an accidental
wetland in Mexico, she examines how ecologists, engineers,
politicians, and citizens have attempted to secure water for
desert ecosystems. In a place scarred by conflict, she shows how
recognizing the rights of rivers is a path toward water security.
Ultimately, Sevigny writes a new map for the future of the
American Southwest, a vision of a society that accepts the
desert’s limits in exchange for an intimate relationship with the
natural world.