Climate change is a crisis that faces our global community. For those of us living in the western United States, a more immediate emergency looms…. a water crisis. In the past, drought, extreme weather and wildfires allowed Mother Nature to reveal her dominance. Prehistory established this pattern where mega-droughts, lasting 50-years, controlled human existence. Technology and man’s ability to manipulate Nature altered this power struggle and humans turned what prehistoric man understood was a desert into a virtual oasis. Las Vegas and its ever-spewing water fountains, swimming pools in California and much of the Southwest and millions of irrigated acres confirm this. Letting the desert bloom increased the need to deliver more water in an arid and semi-arid climate. Mother Nature could let this go on for so long before she began to flex her muscles. Man versus Nature is once again battling with an impending water crisis becoming reality that is more complicated with climate change.

Marc Reisner heralded the Colorado River as “the most legislated, most debated and most litigated river in the entire world” in his seminal book THE CADILLAC DESERT: THE AMERICAN WEST AND ITS DISAPPEARING WATER. Today the situation has become even more politicized and complicated. Just look at the water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE: THE GREAT AMERICAN FALLACY summarizes the history of the Basin, the Law of the River, problems currently confronting 7 western states and Mexico, and outlines the issues defining the future and this water crisis. The book simplifies the complexities that challenge the 40,000,000 people dependent on the over-allocated Colorado River in a very readable manner. It provides an excellent summary of the past and a comprehensive yet concise overview of the future for a water source that will not deliver sufficient water that humans require.