I read the Water Knife on an HN recommendation and I can't say I agree. I like Sci Fi in general, so it was an easy sell. Even then it didn't win me over. I'd characterize the writing as amateurish. Lots of problems with uneven pacing (novels grinds on and on in the beginning where nothing much happens and then an insane dash to the denouement) and half baked character development (the main character is classic ruthless thug who grows a heart, but his shift is pretty abrupt and under-developed). I find that serious flaws like that can be carried by good worldbuilding (For example Altered Carbon) but it didn't do very well there either. Some interesting ideas like the arcologies, but all pretty generic post-apocalypse dystopia stuff. The one thing the novel does well is provide a basic explanation of the rules of water rights and water management but that's definitely not enough to redeem it.

I also read Cadillac Desert after reading The Water Knife, and I enjoyed it much more. It's a pretty wide ranging book but does a nice job of weaving together all context it builds up. The one criticism that I have is that it seems pretty alarmist. The author stops just short of predicting impending collapse but the book was written in 1986 and we're just now getting to a crisis level after a historical drought.