Where the Water Goes: Life and Death on the Colorado River

Books about water rights tend to run, well, a little dry. But in this nonfiction look at the Colorado River and our complex dependence on its every drop, The New Yorker’s David Owen skillfully stokes curiosity for what’s around each bend. Owen’s voice is campfire casual, leading to “oh, now I get it!” moments as he unravels layers of human history and paradoxes of conservation and energy use. From archaic engineering feats to surprising “Law of the River” rules—wait, we haven’t changed that policy since the Gold Rush?—it’s a dusty, fascinating trail of whodunit from the Rocky Mountain headwaters to Mexico, and little is as simple as it seems. Where the Water Goes is important reading, and Owen’s no-stone-unturned reporting shows not only how we got here, but how we might steer onward to the future of the West.