Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Wyoming/Utah

Downstream: Encounters with the Colorado River

The Colorado River flows 1700 miles through extremely rugged terrain. But the Colorado is no longer wild. It’s a human construct, a pipeline. Six major dams control and divert its flow. The West depends for its life on the Colorado and reclamation is a remarkable feat. But there has been a heavy price: hundreds of miles of canyon country now lie buried beneath giant reservoirs.

Downstream chronicles my exploration of the Colorado — the mountainous reaches, the rushing waters, the stilled reservoirs, and the diminished waters of the lower river. Sometimes I find beauty, sometimes desecration, often a perplexing and absurd combination.