
Irrigated Eden
The Making of an Agricultural Landscape in the American West
Mark Fiege(Author)
University of Washington Press
Published on 1. May 1999
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-0-295-97757-7 (ISBN)
Description
Irrigation came to the arid West in a wave of optimism about the power of water to make the desert bloom. Mark Fiege's fascinating and innovative study of irrigation in southern Idaho's Snake River valley describes a complex interplay of human and natural systems. Using vast quantities of labor, irrigators built dams, excavated canals, laid out farms, and brought millions of acres into cultivation. But at each step, nature rebounded and compromised the intended agricultural order. The result was a new and richly textured landscape made of layer upon layer of technology and intractable natural forces - one that engineers and farmers did not control with the precision they had anticipated. "Irrigated Eden" vividly portrays how human actions inadvertently helped to create a strange and sometimes baffling ecology.
Reviews / Votes
"Fiege suggests that, no matter how we try to alter the natural world, the unexpected consequences of our actions will always come back to haunt us."--ChoiceMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
29 illus.,
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
749 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-295-97757-7 (9780295977577)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2009
1st Edition
University of Washington Press
€29.49
Available for download