David Carle is a former park ranger and the author of California Natural History Guides about water, fire, air, and soil (UC Press), as well as other books in water history and management, including Drowning the Dream: California's Water Choices at the Millennium and Water and the California Dream. His most recent UC Press book is Traveling the 38th Parallel: A Water Line around the World (2013).

• Acknowledgments Introduction-Water Web: Connected Californians Chapter 1. Tapping into a Planetary Cycle A Great Water Wheel The Vital Molecule "Normal" Weather: Anything but "Average" Chapter 2. California Water Landscape Pristine Waterscape Groundwater Hydrologic Regions Chapter 3. The Distribution System Expanding Watersheds The State Water Project The Central Valley Project Colorado River Delivery Systems The Los Angeles Aqueduct The Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct The Mokelumne Aqueduct The North Bay Chapter 4. Challenges to California Water Management Climate Change and the Water Cycle Extinction Is Forever A Thirsty Garden Asking Too Much of the Colorado River and the Salton Sea Out of Sight, Out of Control Can You Drink the Water? The Problem Is Us Chapter 5. Meeting the Challenges: California's Water Future California Water Law and the Public Trust The Delta, a Tunnel Vision, and a Water Bond Recycle and Reuse: Localizing Water Sustainable Groundwater The Debate over Dams Transfers: Water as a Commodity Clean Water Ecosystem Restoration Lemonade from Lemons: Is Desalination Viable? Will There Be Enough Water? Acronyms and Abbreviations Historical Timeline Agencies and Organizations References Photo Credits Index Author Biography

"Bottom Line: You cannot hope to fix a "broken" system without some basic understanding of its history, function and opportunities for change. I give Carle's book FIVE STARS for providing that information." -- David Zetland