The Marsh Builders: The Fight for Clean Water, Wetlands, and Wildlife

by Sharon Levy Narrated by Karen White

Overview

Swamps and marshes once covered vast stretches of the North American landscape. The destruction of these habitats, long seen as wastelands that harbored deadly disease, accelerated in the twentieth century. Today, the majority of the original wetlands in the U.S. have vanished, transformed into farm fields or buried under city streets.



In The Marsh Builders, Sharon Levy delves into the intertwined histories of wetlands loss and water pollution. The book's springboard is the tale of a years-long citizen uprising in Humboldt County, California, which led to the creation of one of the first U.S. wetlands designed to treat city sewage. The book explores the global roots of this local story: the cholera epidemics that plagued nineteenth-century Europe; the researchers who invented modern sewage treatment after bumbling across the insight that microbes break down pollutants in water; and the discovery that wetlands act as efficient filters for the pollutants unleashed by modern humanity.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"If only we had realized how critically important our wetlands were before we drained, filled, and polluted them. How could this have happened and what do we do now? I highly recommend reading Levy's book to find out." — Jennifer H. Mattei, Sacred Heart University

"[an]excellent account of our relationship with water and wetlands over the past 200 years by veteran science journalist Sharon Levy." —Trent Tegler, Liana Environmental Consulting Ltd., Fergus, ON, Canada The Canadian Field-Naturalist V

"This is an excellent reference for ecologists, microbiologists, and engineers with soils, civil, and sanitary backgrounds, as well as students." —CHOICE

"Sharon Levy's new book offers a fascinating history of wetlands, their human-caused decline and our growing understanding of why we need to restore them." —Erica Gies, IThe Relevator

"Sharon Levy's book spans centuries and continents to make a powerful argument for a back-to-nature approach to deal with sewage. Rather than sophisticated technology, she convincingly brings out how nature has ways we can learn from for treating sewage with a minimal environmental footprint." — Nitya Jacob, water policy analyst, consultant, and former Head of Policy, WaterAid India

DECEMBER 2018 - AudioFile

This fascinating audiobook about how Arcata, California, pioneered the use of wetlands to treat city sewage is a timely and involving listen—timely because the 1972 Clean Water Act is under new threat and involving because Karen White’s straightforward narration keeps the focus on the story. It’s a story that blends how little we knew about disease until recently—here’s looking at you, cholera—with the effect of water pollution on human and environmental health. Stunning fact: Flush toilets were widely used before communities had sewage lines. Yuck! Enter the heroes of Humboldt County, who battled Big Sewage and re-created a marsh that attracts wildlife and people while filtering the yucky stuff. They’re wonderful folks to spend time with. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170548736
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	09/25/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos