Throughout the summer of 1987, Jim Carrier traveled the length of the Colorado River from its headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park to its outlet in the Gulf of California. Along the way, three times a week, he wrote a column for the Denver Post, published on the front page under the logo, Down the Colorado.The idea was to tell the story of this great river of the West in a way that combined a journey with the issues that surround water in the most arid region of the United States. The result was an itinerant diary that not only depicted the more familiar pastimes associated with the river — like float trips and scenic hikes — but also unexpected adventures, and the fierce competition for its life-giving liquid. For all the wildness and remoteness for most of its length, the Colorado is plumbed to death, literally sucked dry, by the time it reaches its historic end.While the journey is nearly thirty years old, and numerous books and documentaries have revisited the river's history, heritage and conflicts, all of the issues raised in this book remain, most of them even more contentious. With the onset of global warming, drought, population growth, and development, the story of the Colorado River will never be finished.