The Great Thirst: Californians and Water

The Great Thirst chronicles California's complex relationship with water from Native American times through the modern era. It documents the state's water wars, infrastructure projects, and policy battles that have shaped its development. The book examines the roles of farmers, urban dwellers, politicians, and environmental groups in California's ongoing struggle to manage its water resources. Through extensive research, Hundley presents the competing interests and power dynamics that drove major decisions about dams, irrigation, and water rights. The narrative covers pivotal moments like the Los Angeles Aqueduct construction, the Central Valley Project, and legal conflicts over water access between regions and stakeholders. Hundley draws from primary sources and historical records to reconstruct these watershed events. This comprehensive history reveals how water access and control have fundamentally shaped California's social, economic and political landscape. The book demonstrates that water remains both a vital resource and a source of continuous tension in the American West.

Readers highlight this as a comprehensive history of California's water conflicts and policies. Multiple reviewers note its thoroughness in covering Native American water use through modern developments. Liked: - Dense historical research and documentation - Clear explanations of complex water rights laws - Balance between technical details and accessibility - Coverage of both Northern and Southern California perspectives Disliked: - Academic writing style can be dry - Some sections become overly detailed about specific court cases - Length (over 800 pages) intimidates casual readers Ratings: Goodreads: 4.0/5 (52 ratings) Amazon: 4.4/5 (12 ratings) One reader on Goodreads called it "the definitive book on California water history." An Amazon reviewer noted it "reads like a textbook rather than popular history." Several academic reviewers praised its extensive primary source research while recommending it mainly for serious students of water policy rather than general audiences.

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🌊 Author Norris Hundley Jr. spent over 30 years researching California's water history before publishing this comprehensive work in 1992, with a revised edition released in 2001. 🏗️ The book details how Native Americans in California developed sophisticated irrigation systems centuries before European settlers arrived, including the Owens Valley Paiute who created extensive networks of ditches and dams. 🌱 During the research for this book, Hundley discovered that early California settlers often ignored Spanish and Mexican water laws, leading to decades of legal battles that still influence water rights today. 🗺️ The book reveals that William Mulholland, who designed the Los Angeles Aqueduct, never received formal engineering training and learned his craft entirely through self-study and hands-on experience. 💧 The work explores how California's water system became the world's largest human-made water transport system, moving water over 600 miles and through mountains as high as 7,900 feet.