Rivers by Design: State Power and the Origins of U.S. Flood Control.

Rivers by Design: State Power and the Origins of U.S. Flood Control

O'Neill, K. 2006. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 278 pages, ISBN 0-8223-3773-8, $22.95 (paper); 0-8223-3760-6, $79.95 (hc)

If you've ever wondered why US rivers are managed in piecemeal fashion, how private versus public water interests are sorted out, or marveled at the variability of river management responsibilities across the country, then this book is for you.

In Rivers by Design, Karen O'Neill provides a well chronicled history of the development of US flood control policies and institutions by detailing the events that shaped the management of the Sacramento and Mississippi rivers from the time of European settlement to the present day. The book explains very well how present day river management is constrained by past decisions--both cultural and political. And importantly, it demonstrates how these constraints set the bounds on the present-day institutions that have jurisdiction over river management.

By comparing and contrasting the historical motivations of the Sacramento and Mississippi basins' key constituents, the author effectively demonstrates how differing local circumstances gave rise to distinct regional flood control policies, while at the same time presenting a convincing analysis of how events in both regions combined to influence the development of institutions with broad authorities at the federal level.

This book takes off where Robert Kelly's (1989) seminal work left off. O'Neill tells how, in California, influential farmers were able to bring about flood control aid that allowed them to develop a form of agriculture that was more highly industrialized than that which developed along the Mississippi. Yet at the same time, and across the entire nation, support was growing for flood protection as a means to exert US control over newly settled territories by permitting land development.

On these and other topics the book presents a richness of information. It is well referenced, enabling interested readers to delve deeper according to specific areas of interest. Throughout, the author displays a keen awareness of how the events that shaped the management of these rivers fit into the larger context of historical theory that pertains to the settlement of the American West.

In closing, the book points out some of the main problems with the current system: that shared local, state and federal power has resulted in tensions (and power blocs) that at times inhibit inspired solutions to watershed management challenges; that appropriations of watershed funds are driven by politicians pursuing pork for the home district, as opposed to projects that achieve the most good; and that the present system of river management (and flood control) is little more than a land development program, without adequate consideration of public safety or environmental needs.

Yet, more needs to be concluded. The present system of river management so well portrayed in this book also fails because it inhibits the type of coordinated watershed planning that is so desperately needed to restore ecological function to our imperiled rivers. Although the need for adopting a watershed perspective in managing rivers is well covered elsewhere (see, for example, Postel and Richter 2003), the ever increasing threats such as climate change, increased ground-and surface-water withdrawals that face our freshwater systems make now the right time to call readers to action. We need to work within the present system and to work to change it for the better. The significant contribution that this book makes in helping us achieve this calling is that it helps us understand why the present institutions are set up the way they are. It's historical precedent; there's really no greater good that we are somehow missing.

References

Kelley, R. 1989. Battling the Inland Sea. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Postel, S. and B. Richter. 2003. Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and Nature. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

Reviewed by Gregory H. Golet, The Nature Conservancy, Northern Central Valley Office, Chico, CA, U.S.A.