Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner: An Analysis
During the last 100 years, water resource development has greatly affected the western United States. The early programs were generally dominated by engineers. The projects were often big, ambitious, and expensive. Such leaders as John Wesley Powell, William Mulholland, and Floyd Dominy often went to great lengths to accomplish their objectives. Throughout the 20th century, their work sustained considerable economic growth. More recently, water resource development advocates have had to reconcile with the environmentalists. The overall result of this interaction has been a shift in priorities. Rather than resource development, future water projects could emphasize the management and efficient utilization of supplies.
Driving across the United States, the landscape gradually turns from green to brown at about the hundredth meridian (11). Great effort has gone into transforming the Great American Desert into something productive. The United States has built approximately 50,000 dams. In the west, such projects tend to be economically unsound. Dams and reservoirs also may create major environmental problems (5). Moreover, despite all of the engineers' heroic efforts, only a small area about the size of Missouri has actually been successfully irrigated. Furthermore, that conversion primarily occurred through the exploitation of nonrenewable groundwater. Nonetheless, water resource development and management are extremely significant to the nation's economy. However flawed such programs may be, they are certain to continue (14).
The history of water development in the United States can probably be traced back as far as the Homestead Act of 1862. This statute presumed that the country's resources and character could be developed by giving settlers half mile square sections of land. In the West, the Homestead Act provisions were adapted to different localities. One fo...