Name: Amanda Wells's review of Wetlands in a Dry Land by Emily O'Gorman
Item: Wetlands in a Dry Land
Rating: 5
Author: Amanda Wells

Emily O'Gorman

In the name of agriculture, urban growth, and disease control, humans have drained, filled, or otherwise destroyed nearly 87 percent of the world’s wetlands over the past three centuries. Unintended consequences include biodiversity loss, poor water quality, and the erosion of cultural sites, and only in the past few decades have wetlands been widely recognized as worth preserving. Emily O’Gorman asks, What has counted as a wetland, for whom, and with what consequences? Using the Murray-Darling Basin—a massive river system in eastern Australia that includes over 30,000 wetland areas—as a case study and drawing on archival research and original interviews, O’Gorman examines how people and animals have shaped wetlands from the late nineteenth century to today. She illuminates deeper dynamics by relating how Aboriginal peoples acted then and now as custodians of the landscape, despite the policies of the Australian government; how the movements of water birds affected farmers; and how mosquitoes have defied efforts to fully understand, let alone control, them. Situating the region’s history within global environmental humanities conversations, O’Gorman argues that we need to understand wetlands as socioecological landscapes in order to create new kinds of relationships with and futures for these places.

More-Than-Human Histories of Australia's Murray-Darling Basin

Wetlands in a Dry Land

Amanda Wells

When I saw that this book was coming out in 2021, it felt like a sign. My research is on an irrigated area near the Chowilla floodplains and associated ephemeral wetlands, and it has been somewhat of a struggle to find sources that consider similar places. Emily O'Gorman to the rescue!

This book feels less like history as I previously experienced it, and more like environmental humanities. It draws on archival research, geographic walk and talk interviews, and place-based observation and research to tell stories of human and more-than-human entanglements of the wet places along the Murray, to the mouth. 

The best chapter, in my opinion, was the last chapter considering seals. I loved the conceptual work done with the motif of 'rippling' which really spoke to my artsy-theory heart. The conclusions that O'Gorman reached frequently called for greater inclusion/involvement/engagement of Indigenous people - and she doesn't just 'tell' that they should be involved. Frequently it was plainly apparent that consulting Indigenous peoples would be an obivous first step in attempts to mitigate the impacts of over/under population and the impacts of drought and flood. 

This book is scholarly, but accessible, and I think historians, geographers, ecologists and environmental managers would benefit from giving it a whirl.

Amanda Wells &
Wetlands in a Dry Land by Emily O'Gorman

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Amanda Wells &Wetlands in a Dry Land by Emily O'Gorman

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Amanda Wells &
Wetlands in a Dry Land by Emily O'Gorman