It’s been two years since Utah-based journalist Zak Podmore wrote, “Life After Dead Pool: Lake Powell’s Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River.” It’s more relevant than ever.
Later this month, the Trump administration is expected to unveil its plan for cutting water use in the Colorado River Basin — an intervention that’s necessary because the states haven’t been able to reach an agreement on limiting consumption. The cuts will probably hit Arizona farms and cities especially hard, although Southern Californians should brace themselves too. After a century of rampant development — and now a 26-year, fossil fueled megadrought — the American West is running low on water.
Podmore’s book offers a perspective-shifting look at a reservoir central to the crisis.
Currently just one-quarter full, Lake Powell is frighteningly close to “dead pool,” the point at which water can no longer pass through Glen Canyon Dam and downstream to Lake Mead — a key storage vessel for Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Finding a way to boost water levels at Lake Powell is absolutely crucial.
Or is it? As water levels have fallen, incredible canyon ecosystems that were drowned by the dam in the 1960s have sprung back to life with remarkable speed — a story that Podmore documents in his book. He also traces Powell’s complex history and politics, making a thoughtful, nuanced case that its future needs to look different than its past — and that today’s environmental crusaders could stand to learn from the people who built Glen Canyon Dam, not just the activists who tried to stop them.
If that sounds interesting, join Sammy Roth and Podmore on Tuesday, 7/28 at 4 p.m. PT/5 p.m. MT for a conversation about his book. You can register for the Zoom here. Sammy will ask Zak some questions, and then we’ll have an audience Q&A.