The issue of water rights in the western part of the United States has always been fraught, and today’s heightened climate crises adds to tensions rooted in decisions made to waterways 100 years ago. The construction of the Hoover Dam and the manipulation of the Colorado River was the largest feat of architecture and engineering in the nation upon completion in 1936. In the first chapter, the author explains the untamed and unpredictable phenomena of the Colorado River and how and why the U.S. government invested in a dam to control the river’s powerful properties. Three robust chapters detail the ambitious construction of the dam. Built during the Great Depression, jobs created by the dam offered many white men desperately needed employment. The minimized roles available to men of color and to women are also discussed. The risks involved in the work and the living conditions were horrific, yet the project forged on. The final chapter discusses implications of the dam from its completion to present day, including the critical drop in water availability and the numerous states that depend on the Colorado River. Maps and photographs illustrate this well-researched piece of environmental history.