How Water Scarcity Shaped America
The Continental Divide—the Country's Spine—Has Been the Source of Conflicts and Compromises Over the Precious Commodity for Centuries
Water, when scarce, has split the nation into warring factions. But it has also united fractured regions. Water can both release the demons of war and stir the better angels of our nature.
We hear so much about California and the drought there. But consider the whole West—and the Continental Divide, also known as the Great Divide. This spine of the continent splits North America—and the state of Colorado, where I live—into hydrological halves.
The snowy West Slope of the Great Divide boasts abundant rivers that flow to the Pacific …
