
- 208 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
The thin ribbon of the Carmel River is just thirty-six miles long and no wider in most places than a child can throw a stone. It is the primary water supply for the ever-burgeoning presence of tourists, agriculture, and industry on California's Monterey Peninsula. It is also one of the top ten endangered rivers in North America. The river's story, which dramatically unfolds in this book, is an epic tale of exploitation, development, and often unwitting degradation reaching back to the first appearance of Europeans on the pristine peninsula.
River in Ruin is a precise weaving of water historyālocal and largerāand a natural, social, and environmental narrative of the Carmel River. Ray A. March traces the river's misuse from 1879 and details how ever more successful promotions of Monterey demanded more and more water, leading to one dam after another. As a result the river was disastrously depleted, cluttered with concrete rubble, and inhospitable to the fish prized by visitors and residents alike.
March's book is a cautionary tale about squandering precious water resourcesāabout the ultimate cost of a ruined river and the slim but urgent hope of bringing it back to life.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Prologue
- 1. Spanish Era: Vizcaino to Father Serra
- 2. Crocker Arrives: Tourist Trade Begins
- 3. Not Enough Water:Building the Chinese Dam
- 4. Water Demand Increases: A Second Dam Is Built
- 5. A Village of Artists: At Odds withthe Pacific Improvement Company
- 6. Carmelās Theater of Water: Enter Two Therapists from Oakland
- 7. Sardines and Golf Courses:Yet Another Dam
- 8. The Era of Disrespect:An Environmental Awakening
- 9. Demise of the Steelhead: AnglersDebate the Fate of the Fish
- 10. The Final Insult: Fire in the Forest
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Selected Bibliography