{"product_id":"water-a-natural-history-9780465037803","title":"Water: A Natural History","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn environmental engineer turned ecology writer relates the history of our waterways and her own growing understanding of what needs to be done to save this essential natural resource.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eWater: A Natural History\u003c\/i\u003e takes us back to the diaries of the first Western explorers; it moves from the reservoir to the modern toilet, from the grasslands of the Midwest to the Everglades of Florida, through the guts of a wastewater treatment plant and out to the waterways again. It shows how human-engineered dams, canals and farms replaced nature's beaver dams, prairie dog tunnels, and buffalo wallows. Step by step, Outwater makes clear what should have always been obvious: while engineering can de-pollute water, only ecologically interacting systems can create healthy waterways. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Important reading for students of environmental studies, the heart of this history is a vision of our land and waterways as they once were, and a plan that can restore them to their former glory: a land of living streams, public lands with hundreds of millions of beaver-built wetlands, prairie dog towns that increase the amount of rainfall that percolates to the groundwater, and forests that feed their fallen trees to the sea.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlice Outwater\u003c\/b\u003e is an environmental engineer, a consultant in sludge management, and the coauthor, with Larry Gonick, of \u003ci\u003eThe Cartoon Guide to Environmental Science\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50556218704146,"sku":"9780465037803","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f6efd1fd-e2e9-4d00-8fa9-89a734f0d552.jpg?v=1731749954","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/water-a-natural-history-9780465037803","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}