University of Chicago Press
Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West
Key Metrics
- Heather Hansman
- University of Chicago Press
- Paperback
- 9780226819976
- 9 X 6 X 1 inches
- -
- Nature > Ecosystems & Habitats - Rivers
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
The Green River, the most significant tributary of the Colorado River, runs 730 miles from the glaciers of Wyoming to the desert canyons of Utah. Over its course, it meanders through ranches, cities, national parks, endangered fish habitats, and some of the most significant natural gas fields in the country, as it provides water for 33 million people. Stopped up by dams, slaked off by irrigation, and dried up by cities, the Green is crucial, overused, and at-risk, now more than ever.
Fights over the river's water, and what's going to happen to it in the future, are longstanding, intractable, and only getting worse as the West gets hotter and drier and more people depend on the river with each passing year. As a former raft guide and an environmental reporter, Heather Hansman knew these fights were happening, but she felt driven to see them from a different perspective--from the river itself. So she set out on a journey, in a one-person inflatable pack raft, to paddle the river from source to confluence and see what the experience might teach her. Mixing lyrical accounts of quiet paddling through breathtaking beauty with nights spent camping solo and lively discussions with farmers, city officials, and other people met along the way, Downriver is the story of that journey, a foray into the present--and future--of water in the West.
Author Bio
I'm a freelance writer and editor. I write about a range of things, from butchers to birth control, but, to generalize, most of what I cover happens outside. I like the intersection of science, adventure, and culture. I'm the environmental columnist for Outside online, and I write for places like The Guardian, Sierra, and The New York Times.
My next book "Powder Days: Ski Bums, Ski Towns, and the Future of Chasing Snow" will be released in November of 2021. It's about the fantasy of living the ski bum dream, and why it's not always as dreamy as it seems. You can pre-order it here or tell your local bookstore about it.
My first book "Downriver: into the Future of Water in the West" about my trip down the length of the Green River, and the water system in the Western U.S., was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2019. You can order it here or anywhere you buy books. And you can listen to me talk about it here, here, and here.
I've been recognized for both my writing and my social (media) skills. My essay "Lighthouse for Sale" was a notable in the "2015 Best American Essays" book, I won the 2010 Thompson Award for Western Writing for my story about declining livestock prices, "The Cost of Sheep," and the "Ski Town Throwdown," a Facebook campaign I ran at Powder, won a 2013 Maggie for best use of social media.
I live on a lake in Seattle but I still have East Coast reflexes.
Source: heatherhansman.com
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