Center of Southwest Studies Lyceum
Free and open to the public
The Center of Southwest Studies welcomes award-winning author and journalist Zak Podmore, who will present on the history of the Bureau of Reclamation, a populist project that became central to the New Deal's public power programs in the 1930s. Drawing from his latest book, Life After Dead Pool: Lake Powell's Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River, Podmore will cover the controversial construction of the Glen Canyon Dam in the early 1960s before bringing the historical narrative into the present.
Today, megadrought in the Southwest is not only a threat to the integrity of the Glen Canyon Dam, but has also sparked a surprising, large-scale ecological recovery in Glen Canyon. By focusing on both the successes and failures of federal dam projects, Podmore will illustrate how climate change and the Bureau of Reclamation's history in the Southwest "offer the opportunity for a more sustainable future" (New York Times Review of Books).
About the Presenter
Zak Podmore is an award-winning author and journalist who has spent more than a decade writing about water and conservation issues in the western United States. He is the author of two books published by Torrey House Press - Confluence: Navigating the Personal & Political on Rivers of the New West (2019) and Life After Dead Pool: Lake Powell’s Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River (2024). Podmore is the recipient of the Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers award and was the Entrada Institute’s writer-in-residence in 2023. He lives in Bluff, Utah and, until recently, was the southern Utah reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune. Learn more.
This presentation is part of the 2025 History Live! series of annual events celebrating the humanities in Southwest Colorado through lectures, workshops, and live portrayals of historic figures. Learn more at Southwest Colorado Humanities Roundtable.