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Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last?
The overriding lesson from history is that most irrigation-based civilizations fail. As we enter the third millennium the question arises: Will ours be any different? For 6,000 years, irrigation has ranked among the most powerful tools of human advancement. The story of settled agriculture, the growth of cities, and the rise of early empires is, to no small degree, a story of controlling water to make the land more prosperous and habitable. Pillar of Sand examines the history, challenges, and pitfalls of irrigated agriculture ― from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to twentieth-century India and the United States. By unmasking the risks faced by irrigation-based societies ― including water scarcity, soil salinization, and conflicts over rivers ― water specialist Sandra Postel connects the lessons of the past with the challenge of making irrigation thrive into the twenty-first century and beyond. Protecting rivers and vital ecosystems as the world aims to feed 8 billion people will require a doubling of water productivity ― getting twice as much benefit from each gallon removed from rivers, lakes, and aquifers. Pillar of Sand points the way toward managing the growing competition for scarce water. And it lays out a strategy for correcting a startling flaw of the modern irrigation age ― its failure to better the lives of the majority of the world's poorest farmers. Illustrations, maps
- GenresNonfictionEnvironment
330 pages, Paperback
First published July 17, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 22, 2015
Pillar of Sand, by Sandra Postel, is spellbinding book about everyone’s favorite subject, irrigation. It discusses the history of irrigation, the numerous serious problems, and the theoretical solutions — many of which seem to be economically or politically impossible. The general health of irrigated agriculture is worrisome, and so is its future. Feeding ten billion a few decades from now is not going to be a piece of cake.
The benefits of irrigation enabled the development of many civilizations, and the drawbacks of irrigation then destroyed many of them. Today, 17 percent of the world’s cropland is irrigated, and it produces 40 percent of our food. This amazing productivity has thrown gasoline on the flames of human reproduction, resulting in explosive population growth, which is never a good thing.
From the very beginning, irrigation seemed to be a fountain of bad karma. From the flooded fields sprouted a bumper crop of mighty emperors, vast palaces, powerful armies, multitudes of slaves, contagious diseases, the loss of freedom, and a pitiable way of life, isolated from wild nature. It was a high-powered form of agriculture, but the magic was mixed with serious defects. Sudden shifts in precipitation or temperature could make an entire civilization vulnerable to famine. The levees, canals, and dams required continuous maintenance by large numbers of hard-working grunts. The infrastructure also provided excellent targets for malevolent invaders, and vengeful enemies.
Over time, irrigation often led to the buildup of salt in the soil — salinization, which eventually transformed excellent cropland into infertile wasteland. Irrigation was a primary reason why the once lush gardens and orchards of the Cradle of Civilization are now bleak deserts decorated with ancient ruins.
Today, salinization is increasing on 20 percent of irrigated land, causing productivity losses over vast areas. Farmers can slow this destruction by installing a combination of drainage systems and high-efficiency drip irrigation. Unfortunately, this is very expensive, few farmers do it, and the salt continues to accumulate. Postel writes, “Salt remains one of the gravest threats to irrigated agriculture and food security in a world that will be striving to feed 8 to 9 billion people within 50 years.”
In the last 200 years, irrigated land has increased 30 times in area. We went on a dam-building binge. In the last 50 years, there has also been an explosion in the number of powerful electric and diesel pumps. They allowed irrigation to expand into many new regions. It is no coincidence that our population also skyrocketed — more food, more mouths, more problems.
It is no coincidence that we are discovering limits to the supply of fresh water. In many places the water table is falling, because water is being pumped from underground aquifers faster than the ecosystem replaces it. This groundwater mining is a widespread threat in primary food-producing regions of Pakistan, the Middle East, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, India, northern China, and the western United States.
The problem is well understood, but little effort is being made to address it, because over-pumping generates lots of food and money. Eventually, the wells will go dry, and the golden goose will drop dead. About a tenth of global grain production currently depends on aquifer mining. Postel warns us: “Groundwater over-pumping may now be the single biggest threat to irrigated agriculture, exceeding even the buildup of salts in the soil.”
Irrigation is also draining major rivers. In 1997, sections of the Yellow River in China had no flow for 226 days. The dry stretches are often 600 kilometers long, and this takes a big toll on farm production. Other threatened rivers include the Ganges, Indus, Nile, Amu Darya, Syr Darya, Chao Phraya, and Colorado. In these basins, irrigation can no longer be expanded. Growing cities and industries are consuming more and more water too, and they can produce more money with a gallon of water than a farmer can. The proverbial wisdom says that water flows uphill toward money.
Meanwhile, the catastrophic population explosion continues, and another two or three billion are expected to come to dinner in 2050. How will we feed them? Oceanic fisheries are past peak and declining. Ranching isn’t able to dramatically expand, neither is rain-fed agriculture. The Green Revolution is over, and there are no new plant-breeding miracles on the horizon.
This leaves irrigated agriculture holding the bag, and it looks like a wobbly bloody boxer after 18 rounds in the ring with a hard-punching opponent. Conflicts over water are on the rise. Numerous aquifers are being depleted. Major rivers are being pumped dry. Salinization continues to destroy more cropland. Climate change could introduce serious additional problems, because our systems are designed to function in the current climate scenario.
The ideal sites for dams are already taken, and an anti-dam movement is growing. Existing dam reservoirs are continuously accumulating silt. On average, the capacity of the world’s reservoirs is diminishing by one percent annually. For this reason, all dams have an expiration date, because removing the silt is very expensive. “Like salinization and groundwater depletion, the silting up of reservoirs is a quiet, creeping threat that is building to massive proportions.”
Governments are running low on funds for the costly maintenance of water systems, and they are losing interest in building costly new water systems. Many farmers do not feel obligated to obey the water use rules (if any), and enforcement of these rules is minimal. Few farmers can afford to install state-of-the-art irrigation technology. Cheap subsidized water discourages farmers from investing in efficiency improvements. Few if any farmers could afford to pay the full cost for their water. Few are interested in investing big money today to avert a problem that may not become serious until 20 or 30 years from now, especially if they don’t own the land, or have big money.
Despite all of these challenges, the strategic global goal is to double the productivity of irrigated lands. In theory, Postel believes that this is possible. In reality, important changes are being made far too slowly. The subtitle of this book is “Can the Irrigation Miracle Last?” From what Postel tells us, I wouldn’t bet on it. Was the invention of irrigation really a “miracle?” It unleashed major changes in history, and it’s not hard to argue that the costs far exceeded the benefits.
On the last two pages, Postel mentions population. Population growth tends to magnify all problems, while solving none. Therefore, major efforts to further increase food production are not perfumed with the intoxicating aroma of wisdom. As long as we’re dreaming for miracles, it would be far more intelligent to sharply reduce population, and thereby diminish many problems simultaneously. But the current generation seems to be firmly against this — breed now, pay later.
The benefits of irrigation enabled the development of many civilizations, and the drawbacks of irrigation then destroyed many of them. Today, 17 percent of the world’s cropland is irrigated, and it produces 40 percent of our food. This amazing productivity has thrown gasoline on the flames of human reproduction, resulting in explosive population growth, which is never a good thing.
From the very beginning, irrigation seemed to be a fountain of bad karma. From the flooded fields sprouted a bumper crop of mighty emperors, vast palaces, powerful armies, multitudes of slaves, contagious diseases, the loss of freedom, and a pitiable way of life, isolated from wild nature. It was a high-powered form of agriculture, but the magic was mixed with serious defects. Sudden shifts in precipitation or temperature could make an entire civilization vulnerable to famine. The levees, canals, and dams required continuous maintenance by large numbers of hard-working grunts. The infrastructure also provided excellent targets for malevolent invaders, and vengeful enemies.
Over time, irrigation often led to the buildup of salt in the soil — salinization, which eventually transformed excellent cropland into infertile wasteland. Irrigation was a primary reason why the once lush gardens and orchards of the Cradle of Civilization are now bleak deserts decorated with ancient ruins.
Today, salinization is increasing on 20 percent of irrigated land, causing productivity losses over vast areas. Farmers can slow this destruction by installing a combination of drainage systems and high-efficiency drip irrigation. Unfortunately, this is very expensive, few farmers do it, and the salt continues to accumulate. Postel writes, “Salt remains one of the gravest threats to irrigated agriculture and food security in a world that will be striving to feed 8 to 9 billion people within 50 years.”
In the last 200 years, irrigated land has increased 30 times in area. We went on a dam-building binge. In the last 50 years, there has also been an explosion in the number of powerful electric and diesel pumps. They allowed irrigation to expand into many new regions. It is no coincidence that our population also skyrocketed — more food, more mouths, more problems.
It is no coincidence that we are discovering limits to the supply of fresh water. In many places the water table is falling, because water is being pumped from underground aquifers faster than the ecosystem replaces it. This groundwater mining is a widespread threat in primary food-producing regions of Pakistan, the Middle East, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, India, northern China, and the western United States.
The problem is well understood, but little effort is being made to address it, because over-pumping generates lots of food and money. Eventually, the wells will go dry, and the golden goose will drop dead. About a tenth of global grain production currently depends on aquifer mining. Postel warns us: “Groundwater over-pumping may now be the single biggest threat to irrigated agriculture, exceeding even the buildup of salts in the soil.”
Irrigation is also draining major rivers. In 1997, sections of the Yellow River in China had no flow for 226 days. The dry stretches are often 600 kilometers long, and this takes a big toll on farm production. Other threatened rivers include the Ganges, Indus, Nile, Amu Darya, Syr Darya, Chao Phraya, and Colorado. In these basins, irrigation can no longer be expanded. Growing cities and industries are consuming more and more water too, and they can produce more money with a gallon of water than a farmer can. The proverbial wisdom says that water flows uphill toward money.
Meanwhile, the catastrophic population explosion continues, and another two or three billion are expected to come to dinner in 2050. How will we feed them? Oceanic fisheries are past peak and declining. Ranching isn’t able to dramatically expand, neither is rain-fed agriculture. The Green Revolution is over, and there are no new plant-breeding miracles on the horizon.
This leaves irrigated agriculture holding the bag, and it looks like a wobbly bloody boxer after 18 rounds in the ring with a hard-punching opponent. Conflicts over water are on the rise. Numerous aquifers are being depleted. Major rivers are being pumped dry. Salinization continues to destroy more cropland. Climate change could introduce serious additional problems, because our systems are designed to function in the current climate scenario.
The ideal sites for dams are already taken, and an anti-dam movement is growing. Existing dam reservoirs are continuously accumulating silt. On average, the capacity of the world’s reservoirs is diminishing by one percent annually. For this reason, all dams have an expiration date, because removing the silt is very expensive. “Like salinization and groundwater depletion, the silting up of reservoirs is a quiet, creeping threat that is building to massive proportions.”
Governments are running low on funds for the costly maintenance of water systems, and they are losing interest in building costly new water systems. Many farmers do not feel obligated to obey the water use rules (if any), and enforcement of these rules is minimal. Few farmers can afford to install state-of-the-art irrigation technology. Cheap subsidized water discourages farmers from investing in efficiency improvements. Few if any farmers could afford to pay the full cost for their water. Few are interested in investing big money today to avert a problem that may not become serious until 20 or 30 years from now, especially if they don’t own the land, or have big money.
Despite all of these challenges, the strategic global goal is to double the productivity of irrigated lands. In theory, Postel believes that this is possible. In reality, important changes are being made far too slowly. The subtitle of this book is “Can the Irrigation Miracle Last?” From what Postel tells us, I wouldn’t bet on it. Was the invention of irrigation really a “miracle?” It unleashed major changes in history, and it’s not hard to argue that the costs far exceeded the benefits.
On the last two pages, Postel mentions population. Population growth tends to magnify all problems, while solving none. Therefore, major efforts to further increase food production are not perfumed with the intoxicating aroma of wisdom. As long as we’re dreaming for miracles, it would be far more intelligent to sharply reduce population, and thereby diminish many problems simultaneously. But the current generation seems to be firmly against this — breed now, pay later.
May 22, 2025
There is no such thing as a post agricultural society. The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Nice read about the thing I do. Very fun to see takes from late 90s right before they started to prototype a solution to the problem in the Murray-Darling basin. Author is smart, gets very close to prescribing the fix in her listing of all the solutions, just a few years too early.
writing was a bit mid but I did appreciate how global this book was and will reference it when looking for historical context in the more far flung regions I get involved in.
Jump scare everytime IID was mentioned.
Nice read about the thing I do. Very fun to see takes from late 90s right before they started to prototype a solution to the problem in the Murray-Darling basin. Author is smart, gets very close to prescribing the fix in her listing of all the solutions, just a few years too early.
writing was a bit mid but I did appreciate how global this book was and will reference it when looking for historical context in the more far flung regions I get involved in.
Jump scare everytime IID was mentioned.
February 19, 2025
A fine survey of the current status (as of 1999) and future of global irrigation. But she missed a real opportunity with the title! Should have been 'Pillars of Salt' (Gen: 19-26) as one of the biggest problems faced by irrigation is soil salinization and it is discussed at some length. Great civilizations that have collapsed in significant part due to salinization, include the Mesopotamians, and several in North and South America and in Asia. Interestingly, the longest continually irrigated place in the world, the Nile basin (over 5000 years!), has mostly avoided serious salinization issues. She focuses mainly on the situations in the major world irrigation zones--China and the Yellow River, India/Pakistan with the Indus and Ganges, Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia and her neighbors with the Nile, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq with the Tigris-Euphrates, and the Western US and the Colorado. Despite being 25 years old this book holds up remarkably well against time. It is full of predictions and extrapolations about the future of water availability, implementation of new technologies and other trends all over the world many of them ending in the year 2025 or 2030. I was slowed down substantially in checking the outcome of these predictions on various websites and AI and far more often than not, the numbers presented were remarkably prescient. For one small example, in 1998 Israel used 40 percent of its wastewater for irrigation, it was predicted to be 80 percent in 2025 and a Google search yielded 90 percent today. One number that does not seem to have changed is that roughly 40% of the world's food is grown on about 20% of the cropland that is irrigated. But available land (and water) is shrinking as cities expand.
The problems of irrigation and the larger ones of water supply are complex, multifaceted and often appear intractable. But the book does a really good job synthesizing the intersections of nature, science (principally climatology, hydrology, and biology but even chemistry, genetics), technology, engineering, economics, society, culture and politics surrounding nearly every aspect of the irrigation 'miracle'. There are several useful maps and charts, too few actually and a slew of numbers related to many aspects of this global issue. For a broad introductory survey on the subject it remains a very useful source but I would like to read an update.
I give this 3.5 stars due mainly to the somewhat dated material, but that is not her fault. Ironically however it ends up being a somewhat 'dry' read at times so rounded down.
The problems of irrigation and the larger ones of water supply are complex, multifaceted and often appear intractable. But the book does a really good job synthesizing the intersections of nature, science (principally climatology, hydrology, and biology but even chemistry, genetics), technology, engineering, economics, society, culture and politics surrounding nearly every aspect of the irrigation 'miracle'. There are several useful maps and charts, too few actually and a slew of numbers related to many aspects of this global issue. For a broad introductory survey on the subject it remains a very useful source but I would like to read an update.
I give this 3.5 stars due mainly to the somewhat dated material, but that is not her fault. Ironically however it ends up being a somewhat 'dry' read at times so rounded down.
July 10, 2018
When I first picked up this book, I was worried that it would be a bit too technical, but I still found it interesting and very readable. I now look forward to reading Lost Oasis, the book which preceded this, sometime in the future.
January 15, 2010
An interesting read which reinforces the fragility of nature. Irrigation is very important in keeping a large proportion of the globe fed. That's why it still comes as a surprise in this book that we keep repeating the mistakes of our forefathers (thousands of years back even) when it comes to irrigation.
A large number of "cases" is covered, not just the expected disasters (like the Aral Sea). Near the end of the book it becomes a bit too preachy. I would have preferred the author to stick with the "case studies" and leave the conclusions to the reader.
A large number of "cases" is covered, not just the expected disasters (like the Aral Sea). Near the end of the book it becomes a bit too preachy. I would have preferred the author to stick with the "case studies" and leave the conclusions to the reader.
October 7, 2015
Postel does a pretty good job synthesizing a ton of papers and presenting the situation in a manner readable by scientists, farmers, and even politicians. It definitely could've flowed better and been a bit more personal though: the writing felt very listy and lifeless at times. But I learned a ton about soil salinification, multinational hydropolitics, and microirrigation solutions for the third world (so cool), to name a few. In the end her outlook is grim. I would love to see an update by her, 15 years having passed since this was published.
March 10, 2011
I learned a lot about the big global picture of irrigation. She has lots of facts both on a global summary level and a smaller case study level. I also like the way she ties in the history of irrigation and its pitfalls to what may happen in the future. Very interesting stuff!
August 5, 2016
One of the most importat books I have ever read during my seventy years. Should be required reading for all military officers, Congressmen, Governors, and college students.
June 5, 2013
A readable and not yet dated view on our freshwater problems by one of the great analyst in the matter.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews