A river lost
by Blaine Harden · first published 1996
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2recommended by
3HN commenters
2018–2023first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
This is a book about how well-intentioned Americans dammed up the Columbia, "Great River of the West," fulfilling dreams of cheap electricity and gardens flourishing in the desert. It is also a narrative of exploitation: of Native Americans, of endangered salmon, of nuclear waste, and of a river - once wild - tamed to puddled remains. Harden's story is a journey of rediscovery. His home town, Moses Lake, Washington, once bone dry, could not have existed without gargantuan irrigation schemes. His father, a Depression migrant trained as a welder, helped build dams - including Grand Coulee - and
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…river has been turned into a battery through a series of dams and reservoirs. The scale is astonishing - Grand Coulee itself produces ~6800 megawatts (about 3x of Hoover Dam). For those interested [A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia](https://www.amazon.com/River-Lost-Life-Death-Columbia/dp/039...) is a great book documenting the creation and long term implications (from cheap electricity for the…
on “A $3B Plan to Turn Hoover Dam into a Giant Battery” ↗I invite you to find yourself a copy of any or all of The Control of Nature by John McPhee, A River Lost by Blaine Harden, and Marc Reisner's books Cadillac Desert and A Dangerous Place.
on “Could We Stop Yellowstone from Erupting with a Giant Geothermal Power Plant?” ↗A River Lost: the life and death of the Columbia is another book about the social, civic and environmental impacts that damning the rivers the PNW has had.
on “Ask HN: Is there a book about how a technological advantage wins wars?” ↗