Arid Ambition - Part 2: The Syndicate That Stole a River
Arid Ambition: Conquering the American Desert 1 Arid Ambition - Part 1: John Wesley Powell and the Folly of Settlement 2 Arid Ambition - Part 2: The Syndicate That Stole a River 3 Arid Ambition - Part 3: The Gods of Concrete and the Pork Barrel 4 Arid Ambition - Part 4: Teton and the Price of Engineering Hubris 5 Arid Ambition - Part 5: The Mirage of Augmentation and the Looming End ← Series Home The creation of the American West required conquering its most formidable barrier: water scarcity. The previous decades demonstrated that private enterprise and individual effort were insufficient to overcome the continent’s arid reality. The federal government stepped in through the Reclamation Act of 1902. This law provided subsidies and the engineering might necessary to irrigate the desert. However, the first great modern water conflict unfolded not between farmer and nature, but between a burgeoning metropolis and a small, unsuspecting farming community. This conflict revealed the intense political corruption and sheer ruthlessness underlying the “greening of the desert”. ...