Great Thirst

Norris Hundley, Jr. is Professor of American History at the University of California, Los Angeles. The Great Thirst, a bestseller in its first edition, was preceded by other books including California: History of a Remarkable State (with John Caughey, 1982).

"Few books will rival The Great Thirst for the sanity and balance of its treatment, for its massive and detailed research, for the smoothness of its style and breadth of its insightful interpretation. Norris Hundley has written a tour de force." - Gene M. Gressley, Pacific Historical Review "[Hundley] has given the reader a rich history buttressed with admirable objectivity. Above all, he has taken a subject of complexity and given it clarity." - Robert W. Righter, American Historical Review "An astonishing account of politics, power, greed and legal battles compounded by north-south rivalry." - Publisher's Weekly "This revised and expanded edition of Professor Hundley's seminal history now includes a fascinating treatment of important developments in the California water arena during the 1990s. The new edition is must-reading for all who hope to understand the California water scene." - Henry Vaux, Jr., University of California "The best reference on California water history that there is." - William Kahrl, author of Water and Power"

• List of Figures List of Maps Preface to the Revised Edition 1. The Aboriginal Waterscape: Manipulation and Near Harmony The Waterscape Waterways and Lifeways Agriculture and Cultural Patterns Symbiosis and Community 2. Hispanic Patterns: Community and Authority "Apportion Water Justly and Fairly" Lessons in Survival Misjudgments Royal Authority and Community Rights Community Obligations Community Rights and Private Rights When Rights Collide: Bien Procumunal The Darker Side 3. The American Takeover: Laissez-Faire, Localism, and Monopoly American Political Culture "First in Time, First in Right" Hydraulicking and Environmental Destruction The Politics of Flood Control Riparian Rights Monopoly and a Clash of Rights Lux v. Haggin and the California Doctrine The Irrigation District and the Persistence of Monopoly Localism and the Search for Alternatives The Rainmakers The Progressive Impulse: From Laissez-Faire to Centralized Planning Toward the Reclamation Act 4. Urban Imperialism: A Tale of Two Cities Los Angeles: From Hispanic Village to American City Legerdemain and the Pueblo Water Right Girding for Expansion: Municipal Control The Owens Valley Caper An Aqueduct for the Future The San Fernando Valley: Insider Information for Private Gain Los Angeles' Water Colonies The Tragedy and Legacy of the Expert: William Muholland San Francisco: Instant City with an Instant Water Problem Hetch Hetchy Predicaments: The Federal Government and Boss Ruef Hetch Hetchy Embattled Toward a Utilitarian Triumph The Ironies of Victory A Comparison of Two Cities 5. Hydraulic Society Triumphant: The Great Projects The Boulder Canyon Project The Imperial Valley Impulse The Colorado River Compact New Players and New Battles Compromises and Enactment The Imperial Valley and the Betrayal of Reclamation Law New Water and Accelerated Urbanization The Central Valley Project Progressive Era Promise and Disappointment Toward a State Plan American Political Culture and the Central Valley Project From State to Federal Project A Project at Last The Battle over Acreage Limitation "Technical Compliance": A Bipartisan Legacy Public versus Private Power The State Water Project A State Plan Fragmentation, Compromise and Confusion New Water, Growth, and Inequities 6. Hydraulic Society on the Defensive Arizona v. California The Environmental Movement The Peripheral Canal Fight: Round One The Peripheral Canal Fight: Round Two The Pueblo Water Right Challenged Mono Lake and the Public Trust Doctrine Owens Valley War: Renewed and Cooled But Not Over The Fight for the Right to Instream Use An Increasingly Vulnerable Southland 7. Water Policy at a Crossroads Tradition versus Reform: The Fate of the Stanislaus River New and Old Challenges to Dams and Levees Dams at Risk The Impermanence of Dams: Earthquakes, Silt, Neglect, and Flawed Planning Los Angeles: A Vexing in Dams, Levees, Floods and Public Policy Vulnerable Levees and the Delta Environmental Crisis: Bay, Delta, and CALFED Environmental Crisis: Central Valley Environmental Crisis: Southern California Subsidized Agriculture and Social Inequity Water Marketing: Hope, Threat, and Challenge The Imperial Valley, MWD, and the Market The Imperial Valley, MWD, San Diego and the Market The Wheeling-Rate War: MWD and San Diego The Government Intercedes One War Down, Another to Go The Central Valley Project, "Reform," and the Market MWD, the San Joaquin Valley, and the Market The Quest for Security and Equity Open Spaces and Farmland: Going, Going... A Confusion of Laws Chaotic Management Calls for Reform, Fanciful and Otherwise 8. Reflections Notes Bibliography Index