As urban growth outstrips water supplies, how can the global challenge of providing "liquid gold" be met? Mixing history and policy analysis, Steven Erie tells the compelling story of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD)--one of the world's largest and most important public water agencies--and its role in building the world's 8th largest economy in a semi-desert. No tawdry tale of secret backroom conspiracies--as depicted in the famed film noir Chinatown--this fresh telling concerns an unheralded regional institution, its entrepreneurial public leadership, and...

As urban growth outstrips water supplies, how can the global challenge of providing "liquid gold" be met? Mixing history and policy analysis, Steven Erie tells the compelling story of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD)--one of the world's largest and most important public water agencies--and its role in building the world's 8th largest economy in a semi-desert. No tawdry tale of secret backroom conspiracies--as depicted in the famed film noir Chinatown--this fresh telling concerns an unheralded regional institution, its entrepreneurial public leadership, and...