Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner is a 1986 book (ISBN 0140178244) about land development and water policy in the western United States. Subtitled The American West and its Disappearing Water, it gives the history of the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and their struggle to remake the American Southwest. The book's main conclusion is that development-driven policies, formed when settling the West was the country's main concern, are having serious long-term effects on the environment and water quantity. The book was revised and updated in 1993.

A four-part television documentary based on the revised book was produced by KTEH-TV, a PBS affiliate, in 1996. The parts are entitled: Mulholland’s Dream, An American Nile, The Mercy of Nature, and The Last Oasis.

Topics discussed in the book

• John Wesley Powell
• Powell Geographic Expedition of 1869
• Rain follows the plow
• William Mulholland
• Owens Valley
• California Water Wars

1986 books | Water in California