In the scramble to claim water rights in the West during the fevered days of early emigration and expansion, running out of water was rarely a concern, and the dam building fever that transformed the West in the 19th and 20th centuries created a map of the region that may be unsustainable. Throughout the arid American West, metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Denver need water. These cities are growing, but water supplies are dwindling. Scientists agree that the West is heating up and drying out, leading to future water shortages that will pose a challenge to existing laws.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Trouble Into the parched frontier Settling the great American desert Reclamation The law of the river Dam nation What we have lost

When dams fall The wealth below The new normal Tainted waters Silt, salt, and civilization Water in the twenty-first-century west Epilogue: A brief history of water's future.