Supplying water to millions is not simply an engineering and logistical challenge. As David Soll shows in his finely observed history of the nation’s largest municipal water system, the task of providing water to New Yorkers transformed the natural and built environment of the city, its suburbs, and distant rural watersheds. Almost as soon as New York City completed its first municipal water system in 1842, it began to expand the network, eventually reaching far into the Catskill Mountains, more than one hundred miles from the city.

Empire of Water explores the history of New York City’s water system - from the late 19th century to the early 21st century - focusing on the geographical, environmental, and political repercussions of the city’s search for more water. By tracing the evolution of the city’s water conservation efforts and watershed management regime, Soll reveals the tremendous shifts in environmental practices and consciousness that occurred during the 20th century.

Few episodes better capture the long-standing upstate-downstate divide in New York than the story of how mountain water came to flow from spigots in Brooklyn and Manhattan. His account of this unlikely environmental success story offers a "behind the scenes" perspective on the nation’s most ambitious and wide-ranging watershed protection program.

The book is published by Cornell University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"This is first-rate environmental history." (Martin Melosi, University of Houston, author of The Sanitary City)

"Recommended." (Choice)

"David Soll ably deepens our understanding of New York's water supply." (American Historical Review)