Who Runs the Rivers? Dams and Decisions in the New West is a legal handbook, written and produced by students at Stanford Law School, providing information on the federal and state laws, agencies, and judicial bodies involved in water resources allocation decisions. The book describes and analyzes how decisions to build and operate large-scale western water projects were made during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, using the authorization and construction of the New Melones Dam in California as a case study. The New Melones Project was controversial. Certain aspects of the project were litigated all the way to the US Supreme Court, which upheld the State of California's ability to protect water quality and aquatic resources through its state water rights administration system.