From dystopian futures to record-breaking boat trips, this list of summer reads will give any reader a master class in Western water brought to you by over 20 of Colorado’s top water leaders.
Once the word was out that The Colorado Sun was looking for water book recommendations, water officials and experts leaped at the chance to share their favorites. (Normally, when this reporter introduces herself as a journalist, people back away slowly. So this was a refreshing change.)
They disclosed what books were on their bedside tables and rattled off the classics, the books that anyone anywhere who is interested in Western water needs to read. Some shared epicly dry suggestions — i.e., dissertations or white papers, recommended for the true water wonks — while others offered children’s books and science fiction that blend entertainment and real water issues.
There are always more books to read, but this list offers a starter guide for anyone interested in Western water.
“I could go through all the favorites and talk about books like ‘The Emerald Mile,’ ‘Where the Water Goes,’ ‘Contested Waters’ or ‘Cadillac Desert’ — those kinds of books — but I thought I’d share what I actually have on my bedside table right now,” said Commissioner Becky Mitchell, Colorado’s top negotiator on Colorado River issues.
Her bedside table books? “Words on Water: Droplets of Wisdom from Rivers, Lakes, and Oceans” by Matthew Moseley and “Against the Odds: A Path Forward for Rural America,” co-written by Bruce Vincent, Nicole Olynk Widmar and Jessica Eise.
“Against the Odds” is a nonfiction book mixed with a memoir that focuses on the timber wars of the 1980s and 1990s. It offers a bit of hope because it focuses on how to move forward and rebuild trust, she said.
“Words on Water,” for her, is a little like a fortune cookie.
“I can open it up and almost always find something that fits perfectly for the moment,” Mitchell said. “Somehow every quote connects back to water in a thoughtful way.”
Let’s dive into the other recommendations from some of Colorado’s top water leaders.
Fiction
“The Water Knife”
This 2015 science fiction thriller by Paolo Bacigalupi offers a way for readers to dip their toes into real Colorado River issues with the tools of fiction writing — well-developed characters, suspense, rivalry — to carry them through the story.
“The Water Knife” takes place in the near future, when drought brought on by climate change has devastated the Southwest. The narrative blends the lives of three characters who find themselves navigating a dystopian world and deeply researched information about the economy, geology, history and politics of water in the U.S.
“What a great vision of a dystopic future … that may come true,” said Steve Wolff, general manager of the Southwestern Water Conservation District, which was created by the Colorado legislature to advocate for water in southwestern Colorado.
Want more fiction? Try “Go as a River” by Shelley Read, historical fiction about a young woman in the 1940s whose life is upended after a chance encounter in the small ranch town of Iola, Colorado — a real town now flooded by Blue Mesa Reservoir.
Fiction for kids
“I Am Oliver the Otter: A Tale From Our Wild and Wonderful Riverbanks”
This rhyming children’s book, written by Pam Ayres and illustrated by Nicola O’Byrne, follows a happy otter whose introduction to another otter, Ottilie, changes his life forever. It is a great chance for children to learn about the impacts of waterways, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said.
“This year, in addition to celebrating our 150th year as a state, Colorado is celebrating our 50-year anniversary of the reintroduction of the river otter,” Polis said. “The story explores the riverbanks through the eyes of the river otter and helps young learners to engage with the importance of protecting our watersheds in Colorado and caring for all living things in our natural world like the mighty river otter.”
Colorado River nonfiction
“The Emerald Mile”
This is the most common recommendation from The Sun’s poll of Colorado’s water leaders. It’s great for anyone who wants a fun read that will enchant them with the story of a river, said Nathan Coombs, manager of the Conejos Water Conservancy District and a board member on the Colorado Water Conservation Board, one of the state’s top water policy agencies.
Enter “The Emerald Mile” by Kevin Fedarko, and you won’t find yourself on a lush mile of the Colorado River. You’ll find yourself on a wooden dory, named the Emerald Mile, racing down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in the middle of one of the biggest flood years in recent history.
The true story takes place in 1983, when engineers fought to keep the water from overtopping the dam and the flat-bottomed boat made history with the fastest ride ever through the Grand Canyon.
“Not only does it tell a gripping adventure story, but weaves in Colorado River history and management. And it’s truly insane how fast they boated the Grand Canyon,” said John Berggren, regional policy manager for the healthy rivers department at the environmental nonprofit Western Resource Advocates.
“It gives a visceral feel for amazing feats both on and off the Colorado River that shape our environment today,” said Anne Castle, who served as assistant secretary for water and science at the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. commissioner on the Upper Colorado River Commission, among others.
The best place to read “The Emerald Mile”? On a trip rafting down the Grand Canyon, said Andy Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River Water Conservation District, which spans 15 counties and was created by the state legislature to advocate for water on the Western Slope.
“This is a fantastic glimpse inside of the operations of the Colorado River written in a compelling and accessible way, a bit of a teaser that will pique a newcomer’s interest so they will be inclined to dive deeper into some of the more meaty treatises on the subject,” Mueller said.
“Cadillac Desert”
This book is one of those slightly meaty treatises and one of the classics in Western water.
First published in 1986, “Cadillac Desert” takes readers on a ride through political intrigue, billion-dollar battles over water rights and European-American settlers’ efforts to wrestle rivers to do their bidding. It reveals how competitive federal bureaus, congressional lawmakers and beneficiaries of dams drove a nearly unbeatable water development machine in the West — one that, over time, damaged the river systems and aquifers themselves.
It is, like many water-focused books, a dry read at times, but author Marc Reisner does an admirable job building momentum to capture readers. While the book’s commentary on Western water stops before the Colorado River Basin’s current water supply crisis, it’s a testament to the fact that many water issues of the ’80s continue today.
“It’s on my desk at the Capitol and so many folks have commented on it being one of their favorite books on Western water,” said Colorado Sen. Cleave Simpson, a Republican from Alamosa, who is heavily involved in water issues at the state Capitol.
It was also one of the books U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat, leaned on to better understand the roots of the crisis unfolding in the Colorado River Basin.
“Don’t let the year it was published fool you,” Hickenlooper said. “The challenges surrounding the Colorado River date back far longer than many people realize. Fixing them will take all of us working together to better manage our limited water resources.”
“Science Be Dammed”
“Science Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the Colorado River” is a nonfiction book by John Fleck and Eric Kuhn that offers a more recent look at what state and federal leaders got wrong in the Colorado River Compact of 1922, the foundation of water law in the Colorado River Basin.
Fleck and Kuhn explore the history of the Colorado River’s enduring math problem: The compact allocated more water than the river system normally produces. The authors dive into historical records to show scientists warned, in the early 1920s, that there was not enough water for the farms and cities people wanted to build. It serves as an alarming reminder of the high stakes of water management and the long-lasting impacts of ignoring inconvenient science.
“‘Science Be Dammed’ helps debunk the often cited myth that the compact negotiators were simply basing their math off of a very wet time and therefore got it wrong,” Berggren said. “Fleck and Kuhn document how, in fact, they knew things could be a lot drier, but for political and other reasons, chose simply to ignore that fact. Seems like we’ve never really learned that lesson…”
“Silver Fox of the Rockies”
Speaking of the 1922 Colorado River Compact, Colorado water leaders recommended “Silver Fox of the Rockies” by Dan Tyler as a way to learn more about Delphus Carpenter, the father of interstate river compacts.
In this book, Tyler tells the story of Carpenter, Colorado’s commissioner of interstate streams during a time when water rights were an increasingly fraught legal battleground. Carpenter relied on negotiation instead of court battles and convinced other states to do the same, forming the first interstate river-sharing agreement, the Colorado River Compact, and protecting Colorado’s water supply for future generations in the process.
“I love stories about people,” said Robert Sakata, the agricultural water policy advisor for the Colorado Department of Agriculture. “I am intrigued by how people’s life paths lead them to the places where they can eventually make such a beneficial impact on our lives.”
“Colossus”
This epic story of Hoover Dam by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Hiltzik exposes the tremendous hardships and accomplishments of the men who built the dam and the drive of Frank Crowe, the boss who pushed them beyond endurance.
“‘Colossus’ is a favorite because it provides a rich narrative explaining the personalities, politics and engineering that led to the historic Colorado River Compact and construction of Hoover Dam,” Alan Salazar, CEO/manager of Denver Water, said. “It is one of the best books to help both experts and lay people get an understanding of the challenges surrounding water use and development of the Colorado River. The political and history junkie in me finds this book a source of information and joy.”
Want more Colorado River reading? Experts also recommended Reuel Leslie Olson’s “The Colorado River Compact,” a 1926 doctoral dissertation that provides an almost real-time analysis of the Colorado River Compact negotiations, and “Searching Out the Headwaters: Change and Rediscovery in Western Water Policy,” by Sarah Bates, David Getches, Lawrence MacDonnell and Charles Wilkinson.
The latter “offers an approachable narrative of how and why water law developed to meet societal needs and then presents a compelling discussion of why water law no longer serves societal needs, including smart ideas for change,” said Daniel Cordalis, who leads the Tribal Water Institute at the Native American Rights Fund.
Nonfiction on Colorado water
“Colorado Without Mountains”
This high plains memoir by Harold Hamil relays the story of growing up in the Lower South Platte River Basin during the development of irrigation and follows the changes that occurred after the construction of the North Sterling Reservoir, said Jim Yahn, owner of Yahn Ranch, past reservoir manager and current Logan County commissioner.
“While I never met Harold I did know his brothers Dave and Don,” Yahn said. “Dave was the 1948 Republican candidate for governor of Colorado and also led the Rural Electric Administration for several years. They grew up in the Proctor, Colorado, area which is where my high school, Caliche, is located.”
“A Ditch in Time: The City, the West and Water”
This nonfiction work by Patricia Limerick offers a dive into the origins of the Denver Water Department, tracing its unique role and history in the West. It casts a light on the complex relationships between cities, suburbs and rural areas with an eye on the past, present and future of water in Colorado.
“‘A Ditch in Time’ is also a favorite because the author, Patty Limerick, is not only a long-time friend, but also a sage voice on natural resources history in the West,” Salazar of Denver Water said. “I’ve always seen it as a love letter from Patty to Denver Water. Hard not to have that on the list when you work at Denver Water.”
Want more Colorado water stories? Experts also recommended “Water Mysteries of Mesa Verde” by Kenneth Wright and “Confluence: The Story of Greeley Water” by Michael Welsh and Greg Hobbs.