Killing the Hidden Waters

Killing the Hidden Waters
Author: Charles Bowden
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2003-11
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780292743069

From the introduction to the new edition: “I’ll tell you where I went wrong. The faucet in the kitchen always becomes the reality we believe, and the periodic droughts, one of which for much of the nineties savaged the West, remain a fantasy. This happens each and every day as the water roars from the faucet and the skies remain dangerously blue.” —Charles Bowden In the quarter-century since his first book, Killing the Hidden Waters, was published in 1977, Charles Bowden has become one of the premier writers on the American environment, rousing a generation of readers to both the wonder and the tragedy of humanity’s relationship with the land. Revisiting his earliest work with a new introduction, “What I Learned Watching the Wells Go Down,” Bowden looks back at his first effort to awaken people to the costs and limits of using natural resources through a simple and obvious example—water. He drives home the point that years of droughts, rationing, and even water wars have done nothing to slake the insatiable consumption of water in the American West. Even more timely now than in 1977, Killing the Hidden Waters remains, in Edward Abbey’s words, “the best all-around summary I’ve read yet, anywhere, of how our greed-driven, ever-expanding urban-industrial empire is consuming, wasting, poisoning, and destroying not only the resource basis of its own existence, but also the vital, sustaining basis of life everywhere.”

The Secret Knowledge of Water

The Secret Knowledge of Water
Author: Craig Childs
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2008-12-14
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0316055301

Naturalist Craig Childs's "utterly memorable and fantastic" study of the desert's dangerous beauty is based on years of adventures in the deserts of the American West (Washington Post). Like the highest mountain peaks, deserts are environments that can be inhospitable even to the most seasoned explorers. Craig Childs, who has spent years in the deserts of the American West as an adventurer, a river guide, and a field instructor in natural history, has developed a keen appreciation for these forbidding landscapes: their beauty, their wonder, and especially their paradoxes. His extraordinary treks through arid lands in search of water are an astonishing revelation of the natural world at its most extreme. "Utterly memorable and fantastic...Certainly no reader will ever see the desert in the same way again." —Suzannah Lessard, Washington Post

Contesting Hidden Waters

Contesting Hidden Waters
Author: W. Todd Jarvis
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2014-05-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1136212752

The world increasingly relies on groundwater resources for drinking water and the provision of food for a growing population. The utilization of aquifer systems also extends beyond freshwater supply to include other resources such as heat extraction and the storage and disposal of substances. Unlike other books about conflict resolution and negotiations over water resources, this volume is unique in focusing exclusively on conflicts over groundwater and aquifers. The author explores the specific challenges presented by these "hidden" resources, which are shown to be very different from those posed by surface water resources. Whereas surface watersheds are static, groundwater boundaries are value-laden and constantly changing during development. The book describes the various issues surrounding the governance and management of these resources and the various parties involved in conflicts and negotiations over them. Through first-hand accounts from a pracademic skilled in both process and substance as a groundwater professional and professional mediator, the book offers options for addressing the challenges and issues through a transdisciplinary approach.

The Wilderness Survival Handbook

The Wilderness Survival Handbook
Author: Barrett Williams
Publisher: Barrett Williams
Total Pages: 124
Release: 2024-04-12
Genre: Nature
ISBN:

***Discover the Art of Survival with 'The Wilderness Survival Handbook'*** Embark on a journey to self-reliance and ultimate adventure with 'The Wilderness Survival Handbook'! Whether you're a seasoned nature enthusiast or gearing up for your first wilderness trek, this comprehensive guide is your essential companion. 'The Wilderness Survival Handbook' delves deep into the heart of surviving and thriving in the great outdoors. From the ecosystem’s intricacies to mastering the ethical explorer’s mindset, the first chapter sets the stage for a transformative experience in understanding the wilderness. As you progress, learn to prepare effectively for your adventure with a run-through of must-have gear, meticulous emergency planning, and a guide to physical and mental conditioning. Dive into advanced navigation skills, discover the secrets of the wilderness GPS, and unlock the art of natural navigation to confidently make your way through any terrain. Shelter is a sanctuary in the wild, and this handbook offers an expert approach to identifying and constructing shelters that ensure your safety and comfort. Water, the elixir of life, can be elusive, but not with the techniques laid out in this guide. Find and purify life-sustaining water with confidence, ensuring your hydration is never compromised. Navigate the delicate balance of nature as you forage for edible plants, acquiring the ancient wisdom of identifying friendly flora. When hunger calls, turn to the techniques of primitive hunting and fishing, and learn the crucial skills of preparing what you've caught or foraged. Witness the primal power of fire through detailed instructions on choosing the perfect site, selecting the right materials, and mastering ignition methods. Encounter wilderness challenges head-on, becoming adept at managing dangerous terrain, unpredictable wildlife, and extreme weather conditions while keeping injuries at bay with practical first-aid know-how. Explore the skies as you learn to predict the weather with natural signs, and engage in the often overlooked, yet critical, art of survival psychology – maintaining your calm and leading effectively in dire situations. Master an array of survival knots, rope skills, crafting techniques, and devise an actionable plan to return to civilization with newfound wisdom. Every chapter of 'The Wilderness Survival Handbook' is a stepping stone toward becoming a self-sufficient adventurer. Dedication to this guide will equip you with the skills to create and carry out an adventure that is not only safe and sound but one that resonates with the call of the wild. Prepare to capture the essence of true survival. Take the leap and forever change your relationship with the great outdoors. 'The Wilderness Survival Handbook' awaits – your ultimate guide to thriving where civilization fades and nature beckons.

The Variae

The Variae
Author: Cassiodorus
Publisher: University of California Press
Total Pages: 529
Release: 2019-10-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0520297369

Cassiodorus—famed throughout history as one of the great Christian exegetes of antiquity—spent most of his life as a high-ranking public official under the Ostrogothic King Theoderic and his heirs. He produced the Variae, a unique letter collection that gave witness to the sixth-century Mediterranean, as late antiquity gave way to the early middle ages. The Variae represents thirty years of Cassiodorus’s work in civil, legal, and financial administration, revealing his interactions with emperors and kings, bishops and military commanders, private citizens, and even criminals. Thus, the Variae remains among the most important sources for the history of this pivotal period and is an indispensable resource for understanding political and diplomatic culture, economic and legal structure, intellectual heritage, urban landscapes, religious worldview, and the evolution of social relations at all levels of society during the twilight of the late-Roman state. This is the first full translation of this masterwork into English.

Getting Over the Color Green

Getting Over the Color Green
Author: Scott Slovic
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2001
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780816516650

Desert vistas are often deemed vacant, inhospitable wastelands. Don't suggest that to Joy Harjo, Pat Mora, or other contemporary southwestern writers. In these arid stretches, often devoid of green, today's southwestern writers see pyrotechnic colors and Gothic shapes that excite and often overwhelm the imagination. And they capture this excitement in words that fix these desert images in the minds of readers who may too often look at the world through green-colored glasses. This anthology of contemporary nature writing from the Greater Southwest brings together a host of writers including peers of Edward Abbey such as Charles Bowden and Ann Zwinger and representatives of a new generation of writers such as Rick Bass and Terry Tempest Williams. The book is an eclectic blend of nonfiction and fiction, field notes and poetry, through which artists of diverse backgrounds both celebrate and illuminate the unique vitality and complexity of southwestern literature— proving that green is only one of many colors on their palette. The selections included here range all across the southwestern landscape and explore adventures in the wild, topics in natural history, living close to the land, and efforts at conservation and restoration. They clearly demonstrate that there is grace and beauty in this often-maligned part of the world— both in the human traditions that have developed in the region and in the natural features of the desert itself.

Groundwater Resources Development and Planning in the Semi-Arid Region

Groundwater Resources Development and Planning in the Semi-Arid Region
Author: Chaitanya B. Pande
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 571
Release: 2021-05-27
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3030681246

This book addresses the various challenges in achieving sustainable groundwater development, management, and planning in semi-arid regions, with a focus on India, and discusses advanced remote sensing and GIS techniques for the estimation and management of groundwater resources. The book is timely as there is a need for a better understanding of the various tools and methods required to efficiently and sustainably meet the growing demand for clean surface and groundwater in developing countries, and how these tools can be combined with other strategies in a multi-disciplinary fashion to achieve this goal in water-scarce regions. To wit, the book combines remote sensing and GIS techniques, runoff modeling, aquifer mapping, land use and land cover analyses, evapotranspiration estimation, crop coefficients, and water policy approaches. This will be of use to academics, policymakers, social scientists, and professionals involved in the various aspects of sustainable groundwater development, planning, and management.