Battling the Inland Sea: Floods, Public Policy, and the Sacramento Valley

I have learned a lot about the unique history of the state of California. I highly recommend it if you want to know about how it was settled, the gold rush, the tremendous damage to the rivers done by the hydraulic gold mining, what it was like before the levees and dams built for flood control and so much more.

This book is written by a history professor, and it is a bit academically focused. It focusses on policy and politics with a deep dive into key historical figures. It makes one realize how important the levies are to life in the Sacramento Valley. It also shows how local politics were affected by national politics.

As a field biologist working throughout the west, I've been following freshwater "issues" for over a decade. As a resident in the desert region of southern California for the last 6 years, the issue has come to deeply affect me professionally and personally. A friend suggested this book as we got to discussing the California history of the legal (and not -so-legal) rights, distribution, and battles with nature and each other all in the name of fresh water. This has got to be one of, if not THE most comprehensive (to the point nearing exhaustive) thesis on the subject. I'm not as avid a reader as I used to be but still ritually read about an hour before bed. The level of detail in this read can be like taking an Ambien so if you're a bedtime reader like me, this will cure your insomnia. The downside? It may take me two years to get through it but the knowledge gained is worth it.

This is a truly excellent book; who would have thought that flood control could be a compelling topic? Any Californian, or anyone else affected by water supply issues, should read it. The author traces California's flood control problems all the way back to hydraulic gold mining, and manages to mix history, politics (some very surprising twists of party philosophies) and technical information in a very readable way.

Was doing a levee assessment in the Sacramento area for work, good insight. They should have selected a higher and drier location for the capitol city....

Very good look at how the politics in CA and the country shaped the different approaches to combatting flood and irrigation issues in the Sacramento Valley. The positions of the Democrats and the Whig-Republicans regarding the role of government then are totally reversed today.

A masterful work. This book provides a lifetime of understanding the power of nature versus the arrogance of man. The History of California flood control is presented with its good intentions, and it's disastrous failures.

I love learning about California's water struggle (history). The book is well written too! Highly recommended and hard to find in bookstores (I've looked hard in the city).