The Great Thirst: Californians and
Water-A History, Revised Edition by
Norris Hundley Jr.
The Single Tome On California Water History
The story of the great thirst is brought up to date in this revised edition of
Norris Hundleys outstanding history, with additional photographs and
incisive descriptions of the major water-policy issues facing California now:
accelerating urbanization of farmland and open spaces, persisting
despoliation of water supplies, and demands for equity in water allocation
for an exploding population. People the world over confront these
problems, and Hundley examines them with clarity and eloquence in the
unruly laboratory of California.
The obsession with water has shaped California to a remarkable extent,
literally as well as politically and culturally. Hundley tells how aboriginal
Americans and then early Spanish and Mexican immigrants contrived to
use and share the available water and how American settlers, arriving in
ever-increasing numbers after the Gold Rush, transformed California into

the home of the nations preeminent water seekers. The desire to use,
profit from, manipulate, and control water drives the people and events in
this fascinating narrative until, by the end of the twentieth century, a large,
colorful cast of characters and communities has wheeled and dealed, built,
diverted, and connived its way to an entirely different statewide
waterscape.
Personal Review: The Great Thirst: Californians and Water-A
History, Revised Edition by Norris Hundley Jr.
The Great Thirst is as long and detailed as the subject matter it tackles, a
complete history of Californians and water. The revised edition came out
in 2001 and addresses the recent developments in the Bay-Delta program
(formally know as CALFED) and important water policy changes at Mono
Lake and in the Owens Valley. The book consists of 8 chapters covering
the early, pre-European settlement, the role water development played in
the growth of Los Angeles and San Francisco, the development of large
state and inter-state water projects, the recent changes in water policy
brought on largely by shortages, and environment concerns, and the
author's summary. To give you a feel for the detailed scope of the work,
the author includes over 100 pages of notes to supplement the text, and a
bibliography of nearly the same length! I have yet to find anything the
matches The Great Thirst in its unbiased depiction of the complex history,
water policies, competing interests, and future challenges that have and
will come to shape California.The author, an American History professor at
UCLA, presents the reader with the single most important fact facing
California, "Californian's are currently using more water than well be
available on a long-term basis. The deficit is 1.6 million acre-feet annually,
which can rise to more than 5.1 million acre-feet during drought years..."
The public appetite for new water development has come to a halt given
the high cost to state budgets and more importantly the surrounding
landscape. But the growth of development and population continues
marching on, leaving you to wonder how the final chapter of this important
story will be written.
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