Killing the Hidden Waters

by Charles Bowden

In the quarter-century since his first book, Killing the Hidden Waters, was published in 1977, Charles Bowden has become one of the premier writers on the American environment, rousing a generation of readers to both the wonder and the tragedy of humanity's relationship with the land. Revisiting his earliest work with a new introduction, "What I Learned Watching the Wells Go Down," Bowden looks back at his first effort to awaken people to the costs and limits of using natural resources through a simple and obvious example—water. He drives home the point that years of droughts, rationing, and even water wars have done nothing to slake the insatiable consumption of water in the American West. Even more timely now than in 1977, Killing the Hidden Waters remains, in Edward Abbey's words, "the best all-around summary I've read yet, anywhere, of how our greed-driven, ever-expanding urban-industrial empire is consuming, wasting, poisoning, and destroying not only the resource basis of its own existence, but also the vital, sustaining basis of life everywhere."

Genres: Environment, Nonfiction, History, Nature, Science

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Charles Bowden was an American non-fiction author, journalist and essayist based in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

His journalism appeared regularly in Harper’s GQ, and other national publications. He was the author of several books of nonfiction, including Down by the River.

In more than a dozen groundbreaking books and many articles, Charles Bowden blazed a trail of fire from the deserts of the Southwest to the centers of power where abstract ideas of human nature hold sway — and to the roiling places that give such ideas the lie. He claimed as his turf "our soul history, the germinal material, vast and brooding, that is always left out of more orthodox (all of them) books about America" (Jim Harrison, on Blood Orchid ).

Reviews

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an outstanding book, although it read more like a treatise for resource management. Interestingly this was Bowden’s first book and was nothing like his future books which feature caustic wit, a scathing sense of humor and a unique perspective on the human condition. In this book, which was written in 1977 Bowden points out that previous users of the great SouthWest, i.e. native Americans were careful to only take what they needed from the environment and let it replenish itself naturally. Now I am always skeptical of the Indians did so much good for the environment. In fact they were in many cases murdering, lawless scum and this included the Apache and Comanche. Both of which we pushed their shit up into their chin eventually. In the case of the Comanche it was General Sherman of the infamous but effective March to the sea during the Civil War which involved burning Atlanta and everything else in his way. Well here he came up with a similar inelegant but effective solution. The Comanche used the Buffalo for everything and were amazing fighters on horse back (ironically introduced by the Spaniards (also covered well in this book). So Sherman killed all the Buffalo over a three year period. No more Comanche issues. Throughout the book Bowden points out the excessive rate that we gringos use up resources in the form of water aquifers and fossil fuels without replacing what has been taken. Not a tree hugger, but I can honestly say he has a compelling argument and does not come across like that spectrum dipshit Greta Thunberg. Like many of these type of books he claims incorrectly that we will run out of resources within 50 years. Despite this false claim this is a well written treatise on the rapine nature of whitey. I recommend it.

[Kallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a marvelous read, anthropology-history-environment as journalistic poetry. Bowden's prophecies of total doom didn't come true as early as he'd predicted, but we can see quite clearly that doom (ushered in by greed and insane optimism about what Americans can get away with) visits regularly and may soon move in as a permanent guest. The wonderful part of this is Bowden's description of Tohono O'odham life and how that life was circumscribed by the environment and, unlike our 'civilization,' entirely supported by renewable resources. Information re the details of their culture is so smoothly incorporated, Bowden's citations became invisible to me though I was glad to see, taking another look, that his work includes others' research as well as his own interviews. This should be required reading for high schoolers and college freshmen. Young people need to be thinking about how American consumer culture has doomed them, before it's too late if it is not too late already.

[Christopher Jenness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilariously academic.

Most of the book is very good. The section on the comanche is perfect.

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was given this book to read as I walked from Ajo to Tinajas Altas- great book if you enjoy thoughts on different approaches to living in identical environments.