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  • Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River by Patrick Dearen
  • Kenna Lang Archer
Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River. By Patrick Dearen. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016. Pp. 256. Notes, illustrations, bibliography, index.)

Patrick Dearen’s Bitter Waters is a comparatively short but important history of the Pecos River, which flows through New Mexico and Texas before emptying into the Rio Grande. The book differs from most histories in that it has largely been written for the benefit of the Pecos River Resolution Corporation, a non-profit organization that is documenting [End Page 262] the river’s history and current ecological state to improve its management. However, Dearen also underpins his book with an important argument about the sensitivity of the Pecos River to management. Using an impressive collection of interviews and secondary sources, he argues that problems such as salinity, aridity, sedimentation, stream-flow, and invasive species have generally decreased the quantity and quality of Pecos River waters, and the result has been development and use issues for the regional population.

The fact that the Pecos is a river belonging to multiple states is significant to the book’s argument because an inability (or, occasionally, an unwillingness) by New Mexicans and Texans to manage this river jointly has exacerbated development and use problems. This idea of interstate conflict is reminiscent of G. Emlen Hall’s High and Dry (University of New Mexico Press, 2002), but Dearen could have expanded on his discussion. Analyzing moments of conflict specific to the regional history would have limited overlap with Hall’s text and would have added an important perspective to Bitter Waters. For example, it is clear that state politics greatly shaped the Red Bluff Project, a reservoir initially sited in New Mexico but intended to aid Texas irrigators, but Dearen only touches on that conflict briefly.

Another important theme deals with the fate of the river. Dearen does not seem overly hopeful about the likelihood of seeing meaningful improvements in the river’s water quality or stream-flow, and the text flirts with a traditional declension model in places. But, Dearen makes a point that can be applied broadly to rivers in this country. Management of our waterways is complicated by a growing population, unrealistic expectations for riparian change, and the geological limitations of the rivers themselves, and there is likely no single solution to the problem of management on the Pecos or on any other river.

Dearen has incorporated an impressive number of photographs, which are a tremendous asset because they provide visual cues about the river’s history and its shifting form. He has also included several maps of the watershed. The maps are helpful, but they could have been integrated more fully. They were inserted at the beginning of the book with little to no discussion. Dearen presumably hoped to provide readers with an understanding of the river’s location and perhaps to introduce familiar landmarks as well, but missed an opportunity for analysis. All in all, Bitter Waters is well researched, well written, and an interesting read. There are places where the text could be more clearly or forcefully written, but this is a significant book about an important river, and it will be a great addition to the literature of southwestern rivers. [End Page 263]

Kenna Lang Archer
Angelo State University
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