In 1979 he received an Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship, which enabled him to conduct research and write Cadillac Desert, which was first published in 1986.
[4] He went on to write additional books and helped develop a 1997 PBS documentary on water management that emphasized human endeavor in the building of dams.
Shortly before he died, he had won a Pew Charitable Trusts Fellowship to support efforts to restore Pacific salmon habitat through dam removal.
[4] For a time, Reisner was a distinguished visiting professor at the University of California at Davis, lecturing on the relationship between urbanization and environmental concerns.
[2] Reisner died of colon cancer on July 21, 2000, at his home in San Anselmo, California, survived by his wife, biochemist Lawrie Mott, and their two daughters Ruthie and Margot.