Seek Higher Ground The Natural Solution to Our Urgent Flooding Crisis

By: Tim Palmer(Author)

320 pages, 25 b/w illustrations

Publisher: University of California Press

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ISBN: 9780520382732 Hardback Apr 2024 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 1 week
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About this book Contents Customer reviews Biography

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About this book

Pairing in-depth journalism with historical perspectives, this book makes a compelling case for a natural solution to the growing problem of flooding.

With Seek Higher Ground, environmental writer and former land-use planner Tim Palmer explores the legacy of flooding in America, taking a fresh look at the emerging climatic, economic, and ecological realities of our rivers and communities. Global warming is forecast to sharply intensify flooding, and this book urges that we reduce future damage in the most effective, efficient, and equitable ways possible.

Through historical narrative, rigorous reporting, and decades of vivid personal experience, Palmer details how our society's approach to flood control has been infamously inadequate and chronically counterproductive. He builds a powerful argument for both the protection of floodplain open space and for programs that help people voluntarily relocate their homes away from high-water hazards. Only by recognizing the indomitable forces of nature – and adapting to them – can we thrive in the challenging climate to come.

1. The Coming Storm
2. The Essential History of High Water
3. Rivers Need Floods and Nature Needs Floodplains
4. Dams for Flood Control: The Promise and the Reality
5. Broken Barriers
6. Higher Floods and the Endless Storm
7. Floodplains Are for Floods
8. The Insurance Connection
9. Moving to Higher Ground
10. Greenways
11. Living with Rivers

Acknowledgments
Sources
Notes
Index
About the Author

Customer Reviews

Review this book

Biography

Tim Palmer is an author and photographer of environmental issues, river conservation, nature, and adventure travel. His thirty-two books have won numerous awards. For the past five decades, he has been professionally and personally involved in flooding and issues of floodplain management.

By: Tim Palmer(Author)

320 pages, 25 b/w illustrations

Publisher: University of California Press

Media reviews

"Nature writer Palmer (Endangered Rivers and the Conservation Movement) delivers an urgent warning about the perils of Americans' penchant for living too close to rivers destined to unleash catastrophic flooding as Earth's atmosphere warms and its rains intensify […] What's most valuable here are the stories of lessons learned by individuals and communities who have taken steps to end the cycles of rebuilding in and near floodplains. It's an encouraging guidebook for community leaders and organizers looking for a sensible path forward."
– Publishers Weekly

"A powerful argument for protection of floodplain open space and for programs that help people relocate their homes away from high-water hazards. Only by recognizing and adapting to the indomitable forces of nature can we thrive in the challenging climate to come."
– Climate and Capitalism

"Readers will find the book compelling."
– Association of State Floodplain Managers

"Palmer's writing […] is an urgent call for action starting with changes in our attitudes towards floods and flooding. The book is not all gloom and doom, however, because Palmer makes a good case for positive actions that if taken now will pay off in the future, as the title of the book (Seek Higher Ground) indicates."
– The California WaterBlog

"The prolific author's most important work to-date […] Seek Higher Ground is a must read for people who love rivers, for people who work to protect rivers, and people who manage rivers. It's also appropriate for anyone who cares about fellow humans and the wise expenditure of our tax dollars."
– Journal of River Management

"Seek Higher Ground is filled with other eye-opening statistics and details about the prevalence of floods and the amount of money spent on solutions that are not always effective and as Palmer lays out have sometimes made the problem worse."
– Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners