A Friends of the Park City Library author event will take attendees in spirit to the shores of Lake Powell.The organization, which helps supplement additional programming that isn’t in the library’s annual budget, will present Utah-based author Zak Podmore on Monday, March 24, at the Park City L ibrary’s Jim Santy Auditorium.Podmore will discuss his book “Life After Dead Pool: Lake Powell’s Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River,” which was just named a top pick in the Nature and Science category  for Southwest Book of the Year, as well as his research for the book, said Cathy Lanigan, who is Friends of the Park City Library co-president with Ann Whitworth.“We hope that this is a topic that has close interest to this community,” she said. “Because it is open to the public and free and at the library, we hope it engages a larger portion of the community.”The event will start at 6 p.m. with Podmore’s presentation. A book sale and author signing will follow, along with dessert, Lanigan said.“We will also host a reception for Friends of the Park City Library with Zak at 5 p.m.,” she said. “We just need members to RSVP to us.”Those who want to become a member can do so by visiting tinyurl.com/5aj9wnfd or purchasing memberships at the door, according to Lanigan.Friends of the Park City Library’s idea to bring Podmore to Park City started with a program the organization hosted annually, Lanigan said. “Some year ago, we used to host a luncheon at Deer Valley’s Silver Lake Lodge where we brought in an author,” she said. “We stopped during COVID, but when it was time to start it up again, we decided to see if we could freshen it up a little bit.”The Friends came up with Podmore, who lives in Bluff, after looking for authors who wrote about topics that were close to the Park City Community’s heart.“Zak is a conservation advocate in addition to being a journalist, who was the Southern Utah correspondent for years and years at the Salt Lake Tribune,” Lanigan said. “He has extensive experience on rivers in the back country and in the south of the state. So what he writes about got us interested.”After reading Podmore’s book, the Friends of the Park City Library knew they found its guy.“We asked around, and he came highly recommended,” Lanigan said.“Life After Deadpool,” published in August 2024, is an exploration of the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, according to Laningan.“It tells us how they came to be and why they came to be,” she said. “It also gives an explanation of the design flaw and the snowballing effects of that flaw.”That flaw includes the overallocation of the water, years of drought and climate change and how the drainage pipes weren’t built low enough to allow the Colorado River, which feeds the lake, to flow freely.“Life After Deadpool” by Utah-based author, activist and journalist Zak Podmore examines the issues surrounding Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam. Podmore will speak Monday at the Park City Library. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Friends of the Park City Library“The water drops below the level and becomes just a standing pool of water,” Lanigan said. “So the sediments and minerals become sludge that accumulates as the water level drops.”The book also addresses the battles and Supreme Court decisions about who gets water rights and why, according to Lanigan.“Zak talks a significant amount about how the indigenous groups in the region have been swindled out of or denied these rights,” she said.Still, the book isn’t all “doom-and-gloom,” Lanigan said.“One of the things that stuck out to me was as the water level continues to drop, the native plant and animal species have been coming back faster than expected,” she said. “And the native species are winning out over many of the invasive species in those regions.”While Podmore makes a point of showing humans’ harmful impact on the region’s ecology, he does suggest possible solutions for the future.“I thought he did an excellent job in explaining what a dead pool is to someone like me who isn’t a water scientist,” Lanigan said. “We’re excited to support the library with events like this. We have an engaged community, and it’s exciting for us to bring community members into the library to hear Zak speak.”Friends of the Park City Library Presents Author Zak PodmoreWhen: 6 p.m., Monday, March 24 Where: Park City Library’s Jim Santy Auditorium, 1255 Park Ave. Cost: Free Web: parkcitylibrary.org Note: A reception for Friends of the Park City Library members is set for 5 p.m. Visit tinyurl.com/3xcm77v8 to become a member or purchase a membership at the door.The post Friends of the Library taps Lake Powell expert for presentation appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less