Amid the longest-running drought in North America, this documentary follows the farmers who depend on water from the Arkansas, the Rio Grande and the Colorado River basins. Eric Whyte, a manager for Ute Mountain Ranch, a native corporation that lost 90% of its water allocation amid expansion, shares how a lack of water has impacted the farm and loss of employment. In Kansas, traditional farming towns have vanished amidst Buy'n Dry programs that have sold their water rights to urban cities. Kansas farmers such as Bob Price, whose access to the largest aquifer in the country is in peril, is threatening not just his livelihood but another dust bowl if farmers abandon their land. State representative Cleave Simpson balances the unpleasant reality of shutting down well use, dooming small farms. Against this background in the San Luis Valley, Ronda Lobato advocates for an old tradition of acequias, creating an equitability water cooperative for the future.
Participant: Jonathan Cohrs