Student films documentary on California drought
Senior Jacob Morrison has taken on the challenge of researching the reasons behind the drought in California. Morrison is currently working on Rivers’ End: California’s Latest Water War, a documentary that focuses on the issues of water usage and shortage in the state of California. He is hoping to release the film in May 2016.
Morrison explained that the two largest contributors to the water shortage in California are lack of rainfall and misuse of water supply. The majority of California’s water supply comes from the San Joaquin River Delta connected to the San Francisco Bay. Water levels there have been low because of the lack of snowfall in the Sierra mountains. Many Californians are aware of the low precipitation rate, but Morrison was surprised to learn about the century-old water policies. He was inspired to create this documentary after speaking with several farmers and realizing the problem.
“A lot of the water policies in California predate the Gold Rush,” Morrison said. “In many ways you are looking at the result of a 19th century infrastructure in a 21st century world. We have a growing population as well as a growing agricultural production.”
The larger issue is the state’s management of the limited water that we do have, Morrison explained.
“About 80 percent of water usage is going to agriculture, and only about 20 percent is used by the cities,” he said.
Morrison gave a hypothetical scenario in which all residents of California did their part by conserving water in their household. This includes limited lawn watering and shorter showers. Because only 20 percent of water is used by cities, they would not be able to make a huge dent in the issue.
“It is very important that everyone does their part, but if you really want to make a change, you have to look at the big picture and focus on improving our water policy,” he said.
Morrison encourages everyone to continue to conserve water, but more importantly, he emphasizes the importance of being educated about California’s water policies. Morrison urges people to write letters to local leaders to urge them to take action.
“The drought may end or be eased by El Niño, but either way we are going to see a drought again,” Morrison said. “We have a growing population in the world. In order to make sure that we plan for that, we have to look at the way we use water and who uses water.”
In Rivers’ End: California’s Latest Water War, Morrison will propose possible solutions to the water management problem. He hopes the film will inspire others to engage with the issue.
“You have to know what is going on, then do something about it,” he said. “I would love if the film would inspire people to do that.”