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Zak 🦦 Podmore

@zakpodmore.bsky.social
632 followers 361 following 429 posts

Water, labor, outdoors / author of Life After Dead Pool: Lake Powell’s Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River / formerly at The Salt Lake Tribune, Canoe & Kayak magazine / zakpodmore.com

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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
RIP Ken Sleight, the inspiration for Seldom Seen Smith in "The Monkey Wrench Gang." Big loss. www.sltrib.com/news/2026/10... via @zakpodmore.bsky.social
sltrib.com
Ken Sleight, Utah environmentalist who inspired a main character in ‘The Monkey Wrench Gang,’ dies at 97
Ken Sleight sat on the edge of a raft with Edward Abbey, dreaming up ways to eliminate Glen Canyon Dam. He later became immortalized in Abbey's 1975 book "The Monkey Wrench Gang," serving as inspirati...
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Morgan Sjogren @morgansjogren.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
RIP Seldom Seen. Beautiful tribute, @zakpodmore.bsky.social & @jbrookelarsen.bsky.social .
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
RIP to a real one. Let the river run! www.sltrib.com/news/2026/10...
sltrib.com
Ken Sleight, Utah environmentalist who inspired a main character in ‘The Monkey Wrench Gang,’ dies at 97
Ken Sleight sat on the edge of a raft with Edward Abbey, dreaming up ways to eliminate Glen Canyon Dam. He later became immortalized in Abbey's 1975 book "The Monkey Wrench Gang," serving as inspirati...
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Colorado Carol 🌻🌲🏞️ @coloradocarol.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Oh no. 😢 www.sltrib.com/news/2026/10...
sltrib.com
Ken Sleight, Utah environmentalist who inspired a main character in ‘The Monkey Wrench Gang,’ dies at 97
Ken Sleight sat on the edge of a raft with Edward Abbey, dreaming up ways to eliminate Glen Canyon Dam. He later became immortalized in Abbey's 1975 book "The Monkey Wrench Gang," serving as inspirati...
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Exactly and that only strengthens your overall argument. Right now there are over 6 million acre-feet essentially trapped in Powell, roughly the total annual water consumption of CA and AZ combined. Bypass the dam, and you free up all of that water
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
That’s why @landdesk.bsky.social is calling 3,500 “de facto dead pool.” We would have reached that level this year without emergency actions. Which only strengthens Ryan’s argument and makes the situation more urgent. CO River management is already being dictated by the dam’s design flaws
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
I would add that while this is technically true, we aren’t likely to ever see true dead pool (3,370’) on Lake Powell. Reclamation engineers have identified 3,500’ as the minimum safe level, below which there are increased risks to the dam’s structural integrity…
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
@ryanlcooper.com is right: time to drain it
prospect.org
Drain Lake Powell - The American Prospect
That would start what is the only sane water policy for the American West.
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Thanks for reading! Nothing wrong with enjoying water skiing but glad to see that #Drainer
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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Trump administration could announce any minute which states are losing how much Colorado River water. In the meantime, check out my convo with @zakpodmore.bsky.social, who wrote a stirring book about Lake Powell and has some surprising lessons: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/lake-powel...
climatecoloredgoggles.com
Lake Powell's dying days
Alfalfa isn't (always) the enemy — and other Colorado River lessons from 'Life After Dead Pool' author Zak Podmore.
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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Not too late: Join me today at 4pm PT to talk all things Colorado River with @zakpodmore.bsky.social, author of "Life After Dead Pool." Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Very much looking forward to this event with one of my favorite climate reporters, Sammy Roth. Sign up for his substack: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com
climatecoloredgoggles.com
Climate-Colored Goggles | Sammy Roth | Substack
Finding climate solutions in pop culture, media and sports. Written by Sammy Roth. Click to read Climate-Colored Goggles, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
It's crunch time on the Colorado River. Hope you'll join me on Tuesday 7/28 for a conversation with Utah-based journalist @zakpodmore.bsky.social about his super relevant book, "LIFE AFTER DEAD POOL," about the birth and death of Lake Powell. Sign up here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Thanks for reading!
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Alan Fisher @amfisher.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Finished "Life After Dead Pool" by @zakpodmore.bsky.social, a book not about surviving after the loss of a Marvel antihero, but about the death of Lake Powell and the imminent uselessness of the Glen Canyon Dam as drought lowers the water level past the generator intakes toward dead pool...
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Great essay by @natehousley.com that gives a fresh perspective on water history in the West and challenges some common misconceptions about increasing water “efficiency” natehousley.com/posts/The%20...
natehousley.com
The Other Face of Conservation: Toward a Better Understanding of Water in the West – Nate Housley
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Thanks for sharing, Sammy!
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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
"Somehow the Overton Window that frames what’s permissible in the discourse around Colorado River management has not shifted as rapidly as the Overton Arm of Lake Mead." Well damn, how long has @zakpodmore.bsky.social been sitting on that one?? zakpodmore.substack.com/p/the-overto...
zakpodmore.substack.com
The Overton Arm Has Shifted
The Glen Canyon Dam is failing and we need to stop pretending it’s worth saving
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Daniel Rothberg @danielrothberg.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
It’s possible for decision makers to hide behind competing narratives because water issues are so complicated. But after 15 years of reporting on water in the Southwest, much of the discussion appears to me as delusional." —  @zakpodmore.bsky.social www.cityweekly.net/news/lake-po...
cityweekly.net
Lake Powell's Glen Canyon Dam is failing and Utahns need to ...
Breaking the Overton Window
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Thanks for sharing!
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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
"If you live in Utah or Colorado and you like healthy rivers, tell your governor you support vegetable and alfalfa farming in California! All power to the Imperial Valley!" Provocative and insightful, from @zakpodmore.bsky.social: zakpodmore.substack.com/p/why-river-...
zakpodmore.substack.com
Why river lovers should oppose water cuts for California farmers
...and why they should support cuts in Colorado and Utah
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
RIP to my Grandpa Jack (1924-2026), who died at 101 today while eating chocolate ice cream with a few of his 12 kids. He fought the Nazis in WWII, had a great sense of humor, and came from a “long line of extremely accomplished river-men.” Here he is in his Colorado River t-shirt.
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
👨‍🍳😗
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
good question
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
And like with the Flint water crisis (or so many other preventable disasters) the highly paid, bungling consultants who are to blame will move away and not be punished while working people will be left to suffer
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
truly
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Colorado River management is more complicated and just as incompetent. The hope at the center of my book is that when we reach a similar level of crisis here (possibly later this year!), the 5.5 million acre-feet of water trapped in Lake Powell will become irresistible and the dam will be modified
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
www.texastribune.org/2026/03/08/t...
texastribune.org
Corpus Christi careens toward water catastrophe
City officials expect to reach a “water emergency” within months and run out of water next year. That would halt jet fuel deliveries to Texas airports, hike gas prices and trigger a local economic dis...
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Crazy story about the “legacy of imbeciles” in Corpus Christi: dreams of desalination, Saudi petro developments, lavish taxpayer-funded parties in Israel, and a city on the brink of collapse as the water runs out.
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
I’m so sorry, Brooke
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
I helped the New York Times cover the bizarre murder spree in Utah’s Wayne County this week
nytimes.com
A Killing Spree in Utah Rattles a Region and Puzzles Officials
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
"Burning up the atmosphere and cutting down the trees The billion dollar bombing of a nation on its knees See the lightning, hear the cries Of the wounded in a world in holy war Mortal thunder from the skies Killing everything they say they're fighting for"
youtube.com
Kris Kristofferson 'In The News'
YouTube video by rspaceball
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
*between Bluff
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Four proposed on the San Juan below Bluff and the confluence! I was only aware of one
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Some detail
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Dept of Interior map of proposed reservoir sites, 1950. (Every one of those black labels.)
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Hold on brother, Jesse Jackson There's a better world a'coming Where a man can hope a man will show some heart You just keep right on believing In the better side of human They ain't ready for it yet, but it's a start youtu.be/_8N2AKdnzeA?...
youtu.be
Jesse Jackson
YouTube video by Kris Kristofferson - Topic
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Winnemucca, I hardly knew ya
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
I’m about to start train posting again
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
They’re being nice to me? On Reddit? www.reddit.com/r/Utah/comme...
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
🧵 (And follow @cowaternerd.bsky.social)
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Amen!
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Morgan @cowaternerd.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
As I keep screaming from the rooftop, construction takes time, and we’re out of time! Things only get worse and worse starting around here 3,510’:
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Morgan @cowaternerd.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Without an incredible change in the trajectory of winter precipitation in the CO Basin this may be the year we see catastrophic collapse of the system and it really feels like we’re just standing on the tracks watching the train saying “we don’t have the legal authority to step off the track”
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Even at true dead pool (3,370’), water would still flow through the dam by gravity, so Grand wouldn’t dry up unless outlet tunnels started to cavitate. Flows could get lower than we’ve seen since 1963 though. Motor trips would get more difficult below 5,000 cfs
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
A lucky someone has the opportunity to swipe right 💕
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Zak 🦦 Podmore @zakpodmore.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
They will try it again this year, probably with a bigger release. But it won’t solve the problem
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