FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2024

**Former Climate Scientist Debuts Novel on Eve of UN Summit**

*"The Water Table" examines groundwater depletion and intergenerational trauma in California's agricultural communities.*

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Dr. Elena Vargas, former IPCC researcher turned novelist, releases her debut literary fiction novel "The Water Table" Tuesday, coinciding with the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference. The novel, published by Riverbend Press, explores groundwater depletion and intergenerational trauma in California's agricultural heartland through three generations of women farmers.

The book draws on Vargas's fifteen years studying hydrology patterns before she left academia to write fiction. Set against the backdrop of the 2012-2016 drought, the narrative follows a matriarch fighting to save her almond orchard while her granddaughter organizes against corporate water rights. The novel arrives as California implements new groundwater management regulations affecting thousands of family farms.

"I spent years staring at data sets showing aquifer depletion, but I kept wondering about the human cost you can't quantify in charts," said Vargas. "Fiction lets me explore what happens when the land you've farmed for three generations literally disappears beneath your feet—not just economically, but spiritually."

Riverbend Press has partnered with the Agricultural Sustainability Institute to donate 10 percent of proceeds to groundwater conservation efforts. The book will be available in hardcover ($27.95) and ebook ($14.99) formats through independent bookstores and major retailers. Vargas will launch the title at Book Passage in San Francisco on November 12, followed by a panel discussion with water rights attorneys and fourth-generation farmers.

"Dr. Vargas brings scientific precision to literary fiction without sacrificing emotional truth," said Marcus Chen, editorial director at Riverbend Press. "This isn't environmental propaganda; it's a complicated portrait of people making impossible choices in a changing landscape."

Vargas is available for interviews regarding the intersection of climate science and narrative storytelling. Review copies and high-resolution author photography are available upon request. The book releases November 7, 2024. Additional tour dates include Portland, Seattle, and Los Angeles through December.

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ABOUT ELENA VARGAS: Elena Vargas holds a Ph.D. in hydrology from Stanford University and previously served as a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Her essays on water policy have appeared in The Guardian and High Country News. "The Water Table" is her first novel.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Zara Chen
zara.chen@crimsonleaf.com
(415) 555-0142