LIVING RIVER

Showalter, a Colorado-based conservation photographer, makes a plea to conserve the most important water resource in the American West.

Often called “the lifeblood of the American West,” the Colorado River system, spread across seven states in the United States and two in Mexico, supplies the water for more than 40 million people and the farms that grow nearly all of the nation’s winter produce. The rights to use that water are dictated by a century-old agreement that, the author asserts, was seriously flawed even when written: The 1922 Colorado River Compact not only excludes Mexico and the dozens of Indigenous peoples in the region, it sets fixed rather than proportional shares—and those shares are based on a larger amount of water than ever actually existed in the watershed. With climate change driving the worst drought in 1,200 years and population growth exacerbating an unsustainable demand for its water, the Colorado is shrinking fast, and the reservoirs behind its dams are at historic lows. If the river and its tributaries dry up, the consequences for the people and wildlife that rely on the watershed will be catastrophic. Moving from the headwaters in Wyoming through the mountains of Colorado and the canyonlands of Utah and Arizona to the now-dry delta on the Gulf of Mexico, he highlights seven distinct ecosystems and the dedicated people working to conserve them, discussing the regions’ intrinsic and economic value, the challenges they face, and potential solutions. Showalter combines lyrical descriptions (“This meadow is a place to daydream, to whisper to the cow moose munching willow, to have a chat with chattering magpies…”), personal experiences, and the stories of key experts—some in their own words—to vividly portray the beauty and diversity of the lands along the river’s 1,450-mile journey. The book’s crisp, elegant design showcases more than 160 of the author’s photos, from songbird portraits to aerial views, as well as several colorful maps. Detailed captions, often excerpts from the text, accompany each image.

An informative examination and celebration of the beautiful and endangered Colorado River and its importance for people and wildlife.