With Colorado River Dwindling, Author Finds Reasons to be Optimistic

With Lake Mead receding year after year and the threat of a shortage looming, the overallocated Colorado River seems to be approaching a breaking point.

But John Fleck argues this crisis doesn’t necessarily mean we’re headed for a future in which conflicts flare and communities run dry. In his new book “Water is for Fighting Over,” Fleck focuses on success stories, including multiple examples of cities and farms reducing water use, and a deal that briefly revitalized the parched Colorado River Delta in 2014 during an event called the “pulse flow.”