The book's central thesis is that the settlement of the West was largely a mistake, creating a "beachhead" civilization that is ecologically unsustainable.
Many projects, while costing taxpayers billions, disproportionately benefited a small number of large-scale farmers who relied on artificially cheap water. Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disa...
Water development was driven less by necessity and more by political capital, bureaucratic rivalry (specifically between the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers ), and class interests. The book's central thesis is that the settlement