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More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:Water: A Natural Historyby Alice Outwater
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:An environmental engineer turned ecology writer relates the history of our waterways and her own growing understanding of why our waterways continue to be polluted—and what needs to be done to save this essential natural resourse.Water: A Natural History takes us back to the diaries of the first Western explorers; it moves from the reservoir to the modern toliet, from the grasslands of the Midwest to the Everglades of Florida, throught the guts of a wastewater treatment plant and out to the waterways again. It shows how human-engineered dams, canals and farms replaces nature’s beaver dams, prairie dog tunnels, and buffalo wallows. Step by step, Outwater makes clear what should have always been obvious: while engineering can depollute water, only ecologically interacting systems can create healthy waterways.Important reading for students of environmental studies, the heart of this history is a vision of our land and waterways as they once were, and a plan that can restore them to their former glory: a land of living streams, public lands with hundreds of millions of beaver-built wetlands, prairie dog towns that increase the amount of rainfall that percolates to the groundwater, and forests that feed their fallen trees to the sea. Synopsis:Important reading for students of environmental studies, the heart of this history is a vision of our land and waterways as they once were, and a plan that can restore them to their former glory: a land of living streams, public lands with hundreds of millions of beaver-built wetlands, prairie dog towns that increase the amount of rainfall that percolates to the groundwater, and forests that feed their fallen trees to the sea. Synopsis:Nominated for the Winship/PEN New England Award In Water: A Natural History, Alice Outwater takes us on a journey that begins500 years ago, back to the wardrobe records of the kings of France and the diaries of the first Western explorers, to recover a lost knowledge — how the land cleans its water.Water moves from the reservoir to the toilet, from the grasslands of the Midwest to the Everglades of Florida, through the guts of a wastewater treatment plant and out to the waterways again.Step by step, we come to learn what should have been done from the beginning: A complex ecological system long kept American water remarkably clean but as we have randomly removed necessary components from it, we have simplified the system to the point where it can no longer do its job.While engineering can depollute water, only these ecologically interacting systems can create healthy waterways.Water is the unforgettable story of the symbiosis that existed between the country's water, the land from which it springs and the life the two support together.It is a story that none of us who hope to live on this planet can afford to miss. Description:Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-201) and index. About the Author Alice Outwater is an environmental engineer, a consultant in sludge management, and the coauthor, with Larry Gonick, of The Cartoon Guide to Environmental Science. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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