“Bold in its interpretation, sweeping in its scope, and judicious in its style, Rivers by Design argues convincingly that federal flood control policy, which culminated in the Flood Control Act of 1936, ended comprehensive resource planning at the federal level. This is an exciting and original study.”-Donald J. Pisani, author of Water and American Government: The Reclamation Bureau, National Water Policy, and the West, 1902–1935
“Karen M. O’Neill has produced a tour de force-a carefully researched and clearly written analysis of the tangled emergence of the U.S. flood-control system. Her powerful wake-up call to us all is how the federal government, through the Army Corps of Engineers, reengineered the nation’s rivers to promote local economic development at the expense of-rather than with a sensitivity to-environmental values.”-Norris Hundley Jr., author of The Great Thirst: Californians and Water–A History
“Masterfully weaving historical details, Karen M. O’Neill traces the unanticipated expansion of the federal government’s role in ‘controlling’ the Mississippi and Sacramento rivers. In this era of rising hurricane-induced floodwaters, she offers deep insight into the tensions between local and national agencies, and between the state and private interests.”-Allan Schnaiberg, coauthor of Urban Recycling and the Search for Sustainable Community Development
