Bitter Waters - by Patrick Dearen (Paperback)

About the Book

The first book-length environmental study ever produced on this 926-mile Pecos River, this work combines a historical overview of the river from the first arrival of European explorers and settlers in the sixteenth century with an investigation of the environmental issues facing the river today.

Book Synopsis

Rising at 11,750 feet in the Sangre de Cristo range and snaking 926 miles through New Mexico and Texas to the Rio Grande, the Pecos River is one of the most storied waterways in the American West. It is also one of the most troubled. In 1942, the National Resources Planning Board observed that the Pecos River basin "probably presents a greater aggregation of problems associated with land and water use than any other irrigated basin in the Western U.S." In the twenty-first century, the river's problems have only multiplied. Bitter Waters, the first book-length study of the entire Pecos, traces the river's environmental history from the arrival of the first Europeans in the sixteenth century to today.

Running clear at its source and turning salty in its middle reach, the Pecos River has served as both a magnet of veneration and an object of scorn. Patrick Dearen, who has written about the Pecos since the 1980s, draws on more than 150 interviews and a wealth of primary sources to trace the river's natural evolution and man's interaction with it. Irrigation projects, dams, invasive saltcedar, forest proliferation, fires, floods, flow decline, usage conflicts, water quality deterioration-Dearen offers a thorough and clearly written account of what each factor has meant to the river and its prospects. As fine-grained in detail as it is sweeping in breadth, the picture Bitter Waters presents is sobering but not without hope, as it also extends to potential solutions to the Pecos River's problems and the current efforts to undo decades of damage.

Combining the research skills of an accomplished historian, the investigative techniques of a veteran journalist, and the engaging style of an award-winning novelist, this powerful and accessible work of environmental history may well mark a turning point in the Pecos's fortunes.

Review Quotes

"Bitter Waters offers an artesian well of information that will captivate the leisurely and scholarly-minded reader alike. From rich descriptions of the river's ecology and geomorphology to colorful narratives of its present-day apologists and adversaries, author Patrick Dearen gives a clear-eyed and unfettered picture of the river's historical and contemporary struggles. Whether you worry about the future of our wild things and wild places, depend upon the river for your land or your livelihood, or simply care for a tough old, meandering river that has loomed large in the history and settlement of the West, this book needs to be at the top of your reading list."--Carter Smith, Executive Director, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

"A history that needs to be shared. The strength of Dearen's work is the perspective he brings to a subject that is usually dominated by lawyers, scientists, academics, and bureaucrats."--Texas Water Journal

"An important well-crafted book."--Dallas Morning News


"An impressively informative, documented, and accessible work of environmental history [that] may well mark a turning point in the Pecos's fortunes. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented . . . Critically important and highly recommended."--Midwest Book Review


"Dearen brings his novelist's skills to natural ecology, and he does an excellent job. As a result, Bitter Waters is more literary than expected. Dearen's prodigious research provides a wealth of well-organized facts and figures snugly wrapped in narrative."--Lone Star Literary Life


"Dearen offers enough detail to satisfy an avid student of water resources in the West, while seeding his narrative with historical stories intriguing to the general reader . . . Dearen's many years of involvement with the Pecos help bring its problems to light for all of us." --New Mexico Magazine


"Exhaustive research . . . Wide-ranging interviews . . . Students of the Pecos and other western rivers will find Bitter Waters a worthwhile addition to their libraries."--True West Magazine


"Bitter Waters is full of facts and numbers but is a comfortable read. As author Patrick Dearen shows, the current and future demands on the Pecos will most likely bring on some great challenges."--Rick Tate, Texas Commissioner, Pecos River Commission

"A thought-provoking study. To all who realize that water will be more priceless than gold, this is a must-read."--Ray Willis, New Mexico Commissioner, Pecos River Commission