Water-issues film 'American Southwest' to air on KNXT in early September

A note from our Water Issues Team leader, Dr. Bob Merrill: 

As I announced at the V4Change meeting, the movie 'The American Southwest: Are We Running Dry?' will be shown on the KNXT Channel 49 at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept 2, and again at 10 a.m. Tuesday Sept. 7. This is the best movie I have seen regarding the water crisis in the United States. If you see no other movie about water issues, this is probably the one you should see.

The American Southwest is an arid to semiarid region whose population is rapidly growing and threatened by water demands that exceed the supply. Urban expansion and climate change pose a worsening future. The Colorado River is over-allocated and groundwater pumping in areas is destroying riparian habitat as stream flow is reduced or dries up. The history of the Southwest is one of conflict over water that has produced winners and losers and the situation is only going to get worse unless the conflicts between population, agriculture, and environmental needs are balanced. Solutions: Recognition of the problem and education, population, conservation, recycling, rainwater and floodwater harvesting. National water policy dealing with supply and contamination.

Special note to V4CFers:  If you want a serious preparation for the film, here are significant items to look for or examine as they come up in the film.  While the list is exhaustive, it should help you get more out of the time spent watching.

1. Colorado River: How little water reaches the ocean and its impact on life in Colorado delta.

2. Different users of Colorado River water and impact of less water on these users.

3. Magnitude of past droughts. Changes in river as temperature increases; invasive species, pollution, flash flooding, disease organisms in water, etc.

4. Is global climate change already here?

5. Population growth and how much of global water is available to humans and other life forms

6. Manifest Destiny and its role in water crisis.

7. Allocation of Colorado River water in wet years vs. dry years and impact of population growth

8. Is unlimited growth possible and what drives it? Sustainable economy?

9. Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta: water transfers and levees, plus Endangered Species Act.

10. Geopolitical tensions: Agricultural users vs. Environment vs. urban growth (population).

11. Groundwater and population growth impacts in Palm Springs and Arizona.

12. Law of first use of water. Phoenix area and impact across rest of state. Impact of groundwater withdrawal on streams. Is water management designed to protect streams?

13. Impact of water use on Native American communities in southwest. Water use in dry land farming.

14. Federal vs. state and local government approaches to solving the problem. We have policies for contaminants but not for supply.

15. Solutions: conservation, land use policies, landscaping vs. agriculture, balance between urban People’s needs, industry, agriculture (farming), and environment. Recycling, capturing runoff, desalination (?) Lower personal usage. EDUCATION