Book Summary of Down by the River: The Impact of Federal Water Projects and Policies on Biological Diversity by Constance Elizabeth Hunt and Verne Huser

Down by the River: The Impact of Federal Water Projects and Policies on Biological Diversity, Constance Elizabeth Hunt, with Verne Huser, (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1988), 250 pp.

Down by the River: The Impact of Federal Water Projects and Policies on Biological Diversity is a careful study of the effects of federal projects on biodiversity in multiple riparian systems which have been the subject of federal projects and policies.

Down by the River: The Impact of Federal Water Projects and Policies on Biological Diversity will be of interest to those who seek an understanding of the effects on biodiversity of specific riparian systems affected by federal intervention. The first chapter addresses the background of rivers and their management. The author first examines Congress and water development, then the interest of the executive branch, followed by a history of federal water development and impacts of these projects on riparian habitat.

The second chapter considers common impacts of river development, specifically, impacts of dam construction on aquatic life and terrestrial life. The third chapter examines the Columbia River and its natural history. The author discusses the lower Snake River and the expansion of the Columbia through the Bonneville Lock and dam. The next chapter examines riparian ecosystems in the lower Colorado River Basin. Life on the floodplain, the history of irrigation on the Colorado, and attempts to mitigate federal intervention are examined.

The fifth chapter examines water law in the upper Colorado River Basin. Specifically, the author examines water rights, including Winter's Doctrine litigation. The sixth chapter discusses the Missouri River: its history, navigation and damming. Especially interesting is a discussion of the merging of the Missouri and the Platte Rivers. The seventh chapter discusses the upper Mississippi. The author addresses the human history and tradition of barging, as well as the effects of lock and dam 26. The next chapter is concerned with the lower Mississippi and the transition from natural to agricultural habitat. Also included is a brief discussion of the fragile coastal habitat of this region.

Chapter nine is an examination of federal funding of what the author terms 'wasteful waterways' located in the Southeast. The penultimate chapter considers the growth of hydroelectric projects on the rivers of the Northeast, with special focus on Maine rivers, especially, the Penobscot River, and the upper Delaware River. The final chapter points to what the author hopes will be a new era in which the remaining riparian habitat will be saved, the current trends will be reversed, systems will be restored, and an endangered ecosystems act will be formulated and enacted.

Down by the River: The Impact of Federal Water Projects and Policies on Biological Diversity is a nicely written, carefully presented examination of the impacts of federal interventions in riparian systems. The text is well annotated and followed by a small glossary which may be useful for the reader unfamiliar with some terms.