Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U. S. (review)

The dominant framework for writing about the natural resources of Florida has two parts: The state's lakes, rivers, wetlands, aquifers, springs, and estuaries have been immensely damaged by human negligence and abuse; and, the water resources of the state comprise a Paradise that must be protected. Recent books with this theme include Some Kind of Paradise(Derr 1998); Journeys Through Paradise(Fishman 2000); Paradise Lost? The Environmental History of Florida(Davis and Arsenault, 2005); and The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise(Grunwald 2006).

Cynthia Barnett's book on water is a combination of investigative journalism and environmental history. Mirage is the most recent book that both loves Florida and hates its degradation. Her book addresses many topics but primarily is about the author's regret at the damage done to the state's natural environment. Florida is called a "portrait in miniature of many national and international water problems" (p. 6). To back up the subtitle's reference to the "Vanishing Water of the Eastern U. S.," Barnett provides some brief narratives of water problems in places like the Ipswich River in Massachusetts, the City of Atlanta, the Great Lakes, and New York City.

The work derives from research done for a Master's Degree in environmental history at the University of Florida, articles written for Florida Trend magazine, and a journalism fellowship at the University of Michigan. Interesting anecdotes enliven the narrative: President Nixon, who was not a tree-hugger by any measure, nonetheless stopped construction on the Cross Florida Barge Canal. In his first year of office, Florida Governor Bob Graham, creator of the "Save Our Everglades" program, was called "Governor Jell-O" for being too deliberative. Senator Warren Henderson, a principal author of Florida's landmark wetland protection law, drank too much on a wetlands field trip in 1984. More significantly, Barnett points out that the chief fund-raiser for Governor Jeb Bush's political campaigns and the state's largest land developer were the same person.

A vivid writing style also helps sustain the reader's interest: Barnett points to "A shortage of life's most important ingredient. Water" (p. 3). The City of St. Petersburg is said to have been one of the first governments in Florida to "blow out their natural water supply" (p. 106), and "Water is intensely personal for most people—maybe because we all began life floating cozily in our amniotic sacs" (p. 121). "In fact, restoring the Everglades was a chance at redemption for all America" (p. 184).

For this reader, at least, too many topics are hurried through in only 192 pages of text. Problems and personalities rush by each other. Most of the book is about Florida, but some effort is made to relate that state's problems to those of other eastern states. Because the law of water in the eastern United States differs considerably from that of the west, Barnett also devotes some pages to explaining western water law, the Colorado River Compact, plans to ship water from north Texas to other locations, and California's system of long-distance water pipelines.

Barnett's survey of water in the East finds many problems. Lake Sidney Lanier, the principal supply for the City of Atlanta, has been drawn down to record low levels in the 2007-2008 drought. Other eastern communities with water problems are highlighted, like the Ipswich River area in Massachusetts and areas of water shortages in southern New Jersey. Even the Great Lakes are said to be at risk: The states and provinces neighboring the Great Lakes are considering a compact to assure that water does not leave the basin.

The subtitle theme of "Vanishing Water" refers to diminishing supplies of water in Florida and the eastern United States, but the book ranges beyond that topic. Mirage addresses the history of wetland destruction in Florida, the failures of...