Drought, Water Law, and the Origins of California's Central Valley Project

"If you have ever wanted to know more about the role of water management in California’s agricultural development, Stroshane’s book is for you. Packed with incredible historical and contemporary details, the book gives a focused look at the dams, canals, and irrigation of the Central Valley. Stroshane does not repeat the scholarly literature on the subject but weaves together aspects of what others have said to make sense of numerous intermingled factors—the ecology of the valley and the mountains that surround it, water law and changing understandings of the rights of farmers and other landowners, the costs and benefits of drought, and the role of power that permeates all decision making. This book is dense with details and introduces readers to a large cast of characters that influenced water management in the Central Valley. It also challenges readers to understand the complex notion of water provision as a public good. Water in California has been a fluid asset that private actors have exploited in a variety of ways and that public actors have attempted to control to the best of their abilities."
—Choice

“Stroshane has exhaustively mined the public records and the extensive writings in this complex and much-studied field and has produced a fresh and intellectually compelling account that every student of California politics, land use, and environment will have to read.”
—Chris Carlsson, author of Nowtopia: How Pirate Programmers, Outlaw Bicyclists, and Vacant-Lot Gardeners are Inventing the Future Today!