Author and painter Obi Kaufmann will be at Copperfield’s in Sebastopol on June 14, discussing his new book, “The State of Water: Understanding California’s Most Precious Resource,” published by Heyday Books.
In Kaufmann’s analysis, there’s nothing straightforward about California water. In his new book, he decided not to investigate water policy, but instead to examine the issue as “one big math problem,” looking at questions like where all the water is, how much do people get and how much do they need now and for the future.
Kaufmann is interested in telling a different story of what water is and hopes it comes across through his explorations of various water systems throughout California, from the Klamath River down to the Salton Sea.
Kaufmann is a backpacker and loves what the natural world of California has shown him by walking it. In addition to being a writer and a painter, he’s also developed the cartography skills, and he brings all these talents to bear on this new book. “The State of Water” contains maps and full-color paintings.
Kaufmann said he didn’t want to make another textbook about California water.
“I want it to be a very approachable document that people can take pieces away from,” he said.
Although water can be a hot political topic in California, Kaufmann said, “I hope that my vision here is unifying, rather than divisive.”
“The State of Water” is the second book in Kaufmann’s six-part magnum opus about California. The first book in the series is “The California Field Atlas,” which came out to acclaim last year.
At 144 pages, “The State of Water” is a slimmer volume, but Kaufmann views it as a necessary step in the process.
“I needed to figure out water in California, the most altered aspect of our natural typography, in order to go back to the natural world,” said Kaufmann, who plans to write four more books by the fall of 2021, including “The California Lands Trilogy,” about the state’s forests, coasts and deserts, and a final book “The State of Fire: Understanding Why, Where and How California Burns.”
“I am writing a grand epic, the ‘Game of Thrones’ of California,” he said. “I hope to present a handbook of conservation, a manifesto of protection, over our natural birthright, our legacy: our beautiful, wild California.”
In the last entry from “The State of Water,” Kaufmann brings up that someday people may need to reject the idea that California belongs to them. Instead, he hopes inhabitants of this state come to embrace the notion that they belong to California.
“What if California’s most precious resource is truth itself, or the human ability to understand and apply a narrative to its historical context?” he said.
Kaufmann will appear at Copperfield’s in Sebastopol, 138 N. Main St., on Friday, June 14, at 7 p.m. The event is not ticketed, and seating is available on a first come, first serve basis. For information, visit copperfieldsbooks.com.
