Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
twelve
h
e Hydraulic Era
salmon and dams
Wild salmon are survivors—living through volcanic eruptions,
ice ages, mountain building, i res, l oods, and droughts. I feel
certain they will persist if we can control our behavior and give
back what we've taken from them—rivers that retain some of
their healthy ecological function.
Jim Lichatowich,
Salmon without Rivers
The twentieth century has been called the “hydraulic era” in
the American West. In fact, it took less than a century for water engineers,
obsessed with providing enough water for an ever-growing population, to har-
ness nearly every drop of naturally l owing water in California. Once sporadic
and untamed, the water resources not only of the state but also throughout
the American West were rapidly controlled, and the natural hydrology was
re-engineered through massive public works including dams and aqueducts.
Today, residents of the western states are linked to each other by an exten-
sive web of aqueducts and pipes that bring them water every day. Dams are
the modern solution to climate variability and unpredictability—trapping
the water that falls during the winter months or melts in the spring, then
storing and transporting that water to where it is needed during the drier
summer and fall months. In addition to providing a steady l ow of water to resi-
dents and agriculture, these water works also provide hydroelectric power and
protection from l ooding.
It has been argued that water engineering during the hydraulic era was a
response to what water planners saw as a need to keep pace with a steadily
increasing population and expanding agriculture across the American West.
But others argue that the massive engineering of the region's water resources
was precisely what led to the rapid population growth, allowing it to grow to
a size far larger than the region could support naturally.
