A Doubtful River Book

In A Doubtful River, photographers Robert Dawson and Peter Goin and essayist Mary Webb explore the ways the river's multifarious users relate to the region's aridity and the precious waters of the Truckee. Dawson's and Goin's eloquent photographs record unforgettable images of the Truckee River's course from the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada to desert-bound Pyramid Lake and the ways the river and the land beside it have been used and reshaped by human needs, greed, and carelessness. Webb's essays offer a moving verbal counterpoint, focusing on the people who depend on and adjudicate the river's water. The sum of the elements of this book is a memorable picture of the complexity of water allocation in a region where conflicting traditions about the uses of the land and its resources, a rapidly growing population, and limited supply make water the most precious commodity of all.

About The Authors
Robert Dawson is an award-winning photographer whose works are in several permanent collections, including the New York Museum of Modern Art and the National Museum of American Art. He is the author of three books and a contributor to more than twenty-five more. Mr. Dawson is an instructor of photography at San Jose State University and Stanford University. Peter Goin is professor of art in photography and video at the University of Nevada, Reno. He has written several books including Humanature and Stopping Time: A Rephotographic Survey of Lake Tahoe. His photographs have been exhibited in more than fifty museums nationally and internationally, and he is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. Mary Webb teaches writing at the University of Nevada, Reno. She received her M.A. in English (summa cum laude) from Northern Arizona University.