The following two publications are recent issues of Arroyo, a quarterly newsletter of the University of Arizona's Water Resources Research Center. Individual copies, as well as subscriptions are available without charge from the Water Resources Research Center, University of Arizona, 350 N. Campbell, Tucson, AZ 85721; 520-792-9591; fax 520-792-8581; email wrrc@ccit.arizona.edu.

Holding Back the Waters -- Dams as Water Resource Monuments
Joe Gelt, Vol. 9, No. 2. Although the Arizona dams attracting most attention are the giant, multi-purpose dams on the Salt and Colorado rivers, these are not typical of most dams in the state. Of the 439 dams in the state, most are much smaller, many serving a single purpose such as stock pond, mine tailing, or flood control. Regardless of size and purpose, however, all dams are links in a human engineered system to store water and control its use.

Saving Endangered Species Poses Water Policy Challenge
Joe Gelt, Vol 9. No. 3. The Endangered Species Act has wide legal implications, but ESA's enforcement is broadest, most complicated when applied to habitat and species that rely on water. As a result, the law has special significance in Arizona and the West. Here historical, geographical and political factors contribute to make water a highly charged public policy issue.

Hydrology and Water Resources in Arizona and the Southwest
This volume is the proceedings of the 1996 meeting of the Hydrology Section of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science conducted at the University of Arizona. Papers are included on topics of current interest to land and water managers of the Southwest. Copies are available while supplies lasts by sending a $10 check made out to M. Baker, Jr, A\NAS, 29 W. Silver Spruce, Flagstaff, AZ. Fax 520-556-2130 for more information.

Chronicle of Community
This new triquarterly publication is devoted to exploring evolving ideas of community in western United States as grassroots groups, businesses, government agencies, and others work out natural resource issues. The winter issues included an interview with Betsie Rieke, director, Natural Resource Law Center at the University of Colorado, reflecting on the role of federal resource managers in building community. Subscriptions are $33 a year for institutions and $24 for individuals. Contact The Chronicle of Community, P.O. Box 8291, Missoula, MT 59807-9906.

Staking Out the Terrain: Power and Performance Among Natural Resource Agencies, Second Edition
Jeanne Nienaber Clarke and Daniel C. McCool. This new edition provides a current and comprehensive analysis of key federal agencies managing natural resources. Along with offering a wealth of historical detail and an analysis of current policy conflicts over natural resource management, the authors also examine current trends in water and land management and put forward an innovative proposal to reshape federal natural resource administration for the twenty-first century. Paperback: $19.95; Hardcover: $59.50 from State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, NY 12246-0001.

Arizona WET, K-6 Curriculum on Nonpoint Source Water Pollution
Working closely with numerous state agencies, school districts, and universities the Arizona WET (Water Education for Teachers) program produced a comprehensive Arizona-specific, K-6 nonpoint source water pollution curriculum. Funded by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the curriculum contains pertinent teacher information and 25 hands-on student activities. The materials have received regional and national recognition as unique teaching materials for students whose first language is not English. The curriculum is available for $15 from the Water Resources Research Center, University of Arizona, 350 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson, AZ 85721; 520-792-9591; fax 520-792-8518.

The University of Arizona Press recently published the following two books that have to do with water affairs. Order from the UA Press, 1230 N. Park Avenue, Suite 102, Tucson, AZ 85719; 800-426-3797; in Arizona or outside cont. U.S. 520-626-4218.

Riparian Ecosystems Recovery in Arid Lands: Strategies and References
Mark K. Brigg. As riparian ecosystems decline throughout the Southwest, only few recovery projects have been evaluated. By emphasizing evaluation of riparian ecosystem, so that the cause of degradation can be understood, and by offering general approaches that can be tailored to specific situations, this book provides a holistic approach to riparian recovery. Readers will be better able to judge whether recovery expenditures are likely to produce desired results. Cloth: $45; Paper: $19.95.

Canals and Communities, Small-Scale Irrigation Systems
Edited by Jonathan B. Mabry. From the mountains of South America to the deserts of northern Africa to the islands of south Asia, people have devised myriad ways of moving water to sustain their communities and nourish their crops. This book presents case studies and comparative essays about local institutions for managing water resources. This volume can serve as source book for social scientists and development planners investigating the cultural ecology of irrigated agriculture, the ethnology of cooperative social formations, the politics of collective-resource institutions, and the sociology of rural development. Cloth: $47.50.

Arizona's Changing Rivers: How People Have Affected the Rivers
Barbara Tellman. Rivers write their own histories in geological records, recording the mighty natural forces that created and formed rivers, canyons and valleys. Yet, river histories also are needed. Arizona's Changing Rivers provides a history of human influences on the state's rivers. Like geological forces, such influences have profoundly affected Arizona rivers.

The book is careful to note that all rivers were not equally affected, nor in the same way. As a result, each river has its own history, to be viewed in the context of the human events and occurrences that took place in the area.

For example, the coming of the railroad, built along the Little Colorado River, greatly affected the river. Land ownership changed, with the federal government granting large blocks of land to the railroad. Building the railroad required vast quantities of lumber and water. Bridges were built. The greatest impact of the railroad, however, was that it opened the area to settlement. Ranchers and cattle moved in.

In contrast, the Bill Williams River is relatively unaffected by human activities. The river is remote, inaccessible by roads and railroads, and the area is unsuitable for agricultural and urban development. Even the operation of Alamo Dam, humans' most profound influence on the river, is being modified to mitigate its effects. Much of the land along the Bill William River is public land and is being preserved and restored.

Another strength of the book is its historical perspective. It views historical effects or influences as layered, each wave of settlers and explorers -- Indians, Spanish and Americans -- using the land and rivers differently. Indian agriculture tended to make less demands on rivers, although they did divert rivers for irrigation. Americans built dams for greater control and use of rivers.

The book also points out that the changes that first occurred locally and for a specific purpose become cumulative, with wide and broad application. The Spanish first brought cattle to southern Arizona to feed occupants of missions and presidios. Later large-scale ranching greatly affecting land and rivers.

A reading of the book leaves the lasting impression that an historical account of the influence of human affairs on Arizona rivers is a varied and colorful story. It includes diverse events and happenings, from the bursting of the Walnut Grove Dam on the Hassayampa River that killed over a 100 people, to an Arizona governor threatening war with California to protect Arizona's claim to the Colorado River.

A book offering an historical and cultural perspective on rivers serves to remind policy makers of the big picture. Not only are their decisions and actions affected by hydrology and the principles of public policy, but they also are to be understood as part of an ongoing historical and cultural tradition. The Central Arizona Project may be seen as the Indian irrigation ditches writ very, very large.

The text includes many sidebars, with quotes and varied information and details. These may further explain an event, add an historical detail, or furnish a touch of humor. The many photos are from various historical eras. The plethora of sidebars and photos serve to break up the text, to act as swirls and eddies to the main flow of the discussion.

Arizona's Changing Rivers is 200 pages in length, containing 160 maps, charts and illustrations. Key maps and graphs are presented in a full-color section. Navigational aids allow the reader with a particular information need to find just the material on a particular river basin, river use, or historical era. A companion bibliographic data base on floppy disk contains nearly 2,000 entries.

Arizona's Changing Rivers is available for $15 or $17.50 with bibliographic data base from the University of Arizona's Water Resources Research Center, University of Arizona, 350 N. Campbell, Tucson, AZ 85719; 520-792-9591; fax 520-792-8518; email wrrc@ccit.arizona.edu.