You might not expect to find a fish in the desert, but if you look, find them you will. In this book a nationally honoured science teacher tells true stories about real young people who study and care for water, fish, and other creatures in and around desert streams, ponds, lakes, and rivers. The book starts out with Katie's story as she fishes for trout in a mountain stream.

The stories then twist across large dry areas where water is sparse. They include urban adventures like Andres and his friends testing river water in the middle of a city to see if it is fit for human use. Other stories stretch back in time like the one about Kamella's family using river water to raise fruits and vegetables as they have done for over eight hundred years as members of the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. As the desert rivers reach their oceans, the stories wash out to sea.