A Video That Explains the West Better Than Any Map
If you’ve ever wondered why water shapes everything in the American West — from where people live to how cities grow — this video is essential viewing. In this talk, Stanford historian David Kennedy revisits the warnings of explorer John Wesley Powell, the first person to navigate the full length of the Colorado River and the man who understood the West’s water crisis long before anyone else.
Kennedy explains how Powell’s 19th‑century insights still define the region today, why the West’s state borders make no hydrological sense, and how federal dam‑building transformed an arid landscape into one of the most dynamic regions in the country. It’s a fascinating, clear, and surprisingly urgent look at the past and future of Western water.
👉 Watch the full talk here:
