Water Is For Fighting: Trailer

01/23/21 • 1 min

Water Is For Fighting explores the complexities of water in the Western United States. Our first season, focuses on the South Platte River in Colorado: a critical water source for over 4.5 million people. The story of the South Platte River is told at the intersection of natural and human history, socio-economics, law, science, and folklore. Through it all is Americans’ complicated love affair with wilderness and the Myth of the Frontier. Ultimately, we demonstrate how this mythos turned water into such a contentious resource, and why, in the West, “whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting.”

Next Episode

Part 1: The City

In our first episode we examine how the history and legend of pure Rocky Mountain water blinded many Denver residents to water contamination issues. Not until the Flint Water Crisis did authorities start investigating potential lead poisoning within the Denver Community.

A brief history on the vital role the South Platte River played in the lives of native tribes and in the founding of Denver provides context for the modern issues still effecting the Denver water systems. The recent detection of lead in the drinking water, caused by the corrosion of lead service lines into private homes and businesses, precipitated a legal battle and a large-scale Lead Reduction Program spearheaded by Denver Water.