Description
Book SynopsisShows how ambitious government programs fall prey to the power of local interest groups and the federal system of governance itself.
Trade Review"The author is a master in his field.... No one until now has told so much of this story in a solidly researched, critical, and convincing fashion. This book will appeal not only to historians but also to political scientists, legal scholars, environmentalists, and others interested in public policy, federalism, and the politics of water in American society." - Norris Hundley, author of The Great Thirst: Californians and Water, a History "A tour de force.... It deals with a critical period in which commitments were made that profoundly influenced the nation's environment.... In brief case studies [Pisani] puts a human face on events and places." - Martin Ridge, coauthor of Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier
Table of ContentsList of Maps Preface and Acknowledgments 1. Saving Lost Lives: Irrigation and the Ideology of Homemaking 2. The Perils of Public Works: Federal Reclamation, 1902--1909 3. Case Studies in Irrigation and Community: Twin Falls and Rupert 4. An Administrative Morass: Federal Reclamation, 1909--1917 5. Boom, Bust, and Boom: Federal Reclamation, 1917--1935 6. Uneasy Allies: The Reclamation Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs 7. Case Studies in Water and Power: The Yakima and the Pima 8. Wiring the New West: The Strange Career of Public Power 9. Gateway to the Hydraulic Age: Water Politics, 1920--1935 10. Conclusion: Retrospect and Significance Abbreviations Notes Index Illustrations follow page 000.
