The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
– the West’s most powerful water agency – uses a
shrewd blend of Wall Street tactics and rural diplomacy to keep the
water flowing to L.A. and its environs.
Magazine
November 12, 2007
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California – the West’s most powerful water agency – uses a shrewd blend of Wall Street tactics and rural diplomacy to keep the water flowing to L.A. and its environs.
Feature
Editor's Note
In this issue of High Country News, Matt Jenkins dives
into the murky world of L.A.’s water system
Uncommon Westerners
Wicket – a wildly energetic dog discovered in an
animal shelter – serves scientists by looking for grizzly
poop in the Montana wilds.
Essays
When his old canoe shows signs of aging, Alan Kesselheim
decides to bury it upright in his yard, a contemporary totem
pole.
Conversation
High Country News talks to Dennis McDonald, the Montana rancher who also leads the state’s Democratic Party.
Book Reviews
A famous French natural-foods restaurant in Berkeley,
Calif., is the subject of Thomas McNamee’s book, Alice Waters
and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric,
Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution.
Sarah Bird’s well-written novel The Flamenco Academy
weaves the history of this dramatic dance form into a obsessed
young woman’s search for identity.
Writers on the Range
Susan Ives tells the story of Edith Ann, a faithful horse
that narrowly escaped euthanasia when the Park Service decided she
was too old and gimpy to be of further use.
Allen Best applauds Kansas for denying permits to two
proposed coal-fired power plants because of concerns about
greenhouse gases.
Heard Around the West
The Long Arm of the Law hits Western yards; un-damming a
Montana waterway; a modern-day farmer’s daughter; clueless
CEOs; smart moose.
Dear Friends
Editor John Mecklin to step down, Jonathan Thompson to
step up; visitors; clarification on Rebecca Solnit
interview.
News
Traffic engineers work with biologists to protect both
wildlife and motorists on hazardous highways.
The West Nile virus is thriving in the West, as scientists
work to find ways to control it.
Two Weeks in the West
A look at the recent California wildfires details how much
they’ve cost so far and how many acres were burned,
especially in the expanding wildland-urban interface.
Letters
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