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Arts & Culture

Beyond The Mirage: The Future Of Water In The West

The Horseshow Bend of the Colorado River located near the town of Page, Ariz. "Beyond The Mirage" explores the West's water crisis in detail, including how the region arrived at this point. It also examines emerging water conservation technologies and how they might offer solutions to this global issue.
Courtesy of Arizona Public Media
The Horseshow Bend of the Colorado River located near the town of Page, Ariz. "Beyond The Mirage" explores the West's water crisis in detail, including how the region arrived at this point. It also examines emerging water conservation technologies and how they might offer solutions to this global issue.

Airs Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV

A full feature documentary that tells the story about the future of water in the West.

A prolonged drought in the West has put increased water pressure on the Colorado River and has fostered a unique blend of competition and collaboration among western states. The search for solutions, some homegrown and some found abroad, will illuminate the path forward for the entire Colorado Basin and quite possibly the entire nation.

The West’s water shortage has implications far beyond the Southwest and may signal a new era for the United States. Concern over food security and rising food prices will be felt across the nation and, perhaps, globally.

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The Colorado River. "Beyond The Mirage" explores the West's water crisis in detail, including how the region arrived at this point. It also examines emerging water conservation technologies and how they might offer solutions to this global issue.
Courtesy of Arizona Public Media
The Colorado River. "Beyond The Mirage" explores the West's water crisis in detail, including how the region arrived at this point. It also examines emerging water conservation technologies and how they might offer solutions to this global issue.

Already a billion people go hungry each day and projections show that food production must increase 70 percent by 2050 in order to meet demand. How will we meet that demand with increasingly fewer water resources? There are no easy answers to this problem. Ultimately, it’s a story about solutions and trade-offs, competition and collaboration.

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, located on the Colorado River. "Beyond The Mirage" explores the West's water crisis in detail, including how the region arrived at this point. It also examines emerging water conservation technologies and how they might offer solutions to this global issue.
Courtesy of Arizona Public Media
Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, located on the Colorado River. "Beyond The Mirage" explores the West's water crisis in detail, including how the region arrived at this point. It also examines emerging water conservation technologies and how they might offer solutions to this global issue.

“Beyond The Mirage” explores the West's water crisis in detail, including how Americans arrived at this situation. It also examines emerging water conservation technologies and how they might offer solutions to this global crisis.

The Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal in Ariz. "Beyond The Mirage" explores the West's water crisis in detail, including how the region arrived at this point. It also examines emerging water conservation technologies and how they might offer solutions to this global issue.
Courtesy of Arizona Public Media
The Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal in Ariz. "Beyond The Mirage" explores the West's water crisis in detail, including how the region arrived at this point. It also examines emerging water conservation technologies and how they might offer solutions to this global issue.

Through interviews with noted public policy and environmental experts, including Robert Glennon, Regents professor & Udall professor, Law and Public Policy; Gregg Garfin, National Climate Assessment contributing author, associate professor of Climate, Natural Resources and Policy, University of Arizona; and Patricia Mulroy, Senior Fellow, William S. Boyd School of Law, UNLV, Climate Adaptation and Environmental Policy, Brookings Institute, the one-hour documentary puts viewers at the center of this issue and prompts a candid discussion about water resources and the need for viable, sustainable solutions.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION:

“Beyond The Mirage” is on Facebook, Google +, Instagram, and you can follow @BeyondTheMirage on Twitter. #beyondthemirage

Beyond The Mirage - Official Trailer

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CREDITS:

Produced by College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona. Producer/Director is Cody Sheehy. Presented by KUAT / Arizona Public Media. John Booth is executive producer, Arizona Public Media. Distributed by American Public Television.