Colorado River in Crisis: Full documentary

The Colorado River can no longer withstand the thirst of the arid West. Water drawn from the river flows to nearly 40 million people in cities from Denver to Los Angeles and irrigates more than 5 million acres of farmland.

This 45-minute documentary explores how for decades, sections of the river have been entirely used up, leaving dusty expanses of desert where water once flowed to the sea in Mexico. Now, chronic overuse and the effects of climate change are pushing the river system toward potential collapse as reservoirs drop to dangerously low levels. A water reckoning is about to transform the landscape of the Southwest.

"Colorado River in Crisis" follows Los Angeles Times journalists traveling throughout the river’s watershed, from the headwaters in the Rocky Mountains to the river’s dry delta in Mexico. These stories reveal the stark toll of the river’s decline, responses that have yet to match the scale of the crisis, and voices that are urging a fundamental rethinking of how water is managed and used to adapt to the reality of an overtapped and dwindling river.

Read the full series, featuring reporting by Ian James, here: https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/colorado-river-in-crisis

0:00 Intro
2:20 The Headwaters of the Colorado River
8:03 The River Keeper
15:50 Tribes push for change
19:53 Agriculture under Pressure
27:54 Growing suburbs in the desert
34:53 A Water Reckoning
40:01 The River’s End

READ THE SERIES:
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/colorado-river-in-crisis

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