Written on Water: A Modern Tale of a Dry West

The Ogallala Aquifer, once one of the world's largest sources of underground water, long supplied eight states in the Great Plains. In a large swath of northern Texas the aquifer made life, farming, and ranching possible for generations through irrigation, miraculously transforming desert land into crop-yielding terrain. Written On Water, a documentary by Merri Lisa Trigilio (who has a PhD in geosciences), tells the story of what has happened to that section of Texas after prolonged drought conditions put so much pressure on the aquifer that little water is left. Not surprisingly, the region's rural towns are struggling: thousands have lost jobs, conservationists and farmers are divided over private property rights (which technically include the water beneath their lands), officials and ordinary residents collide at committee hearings, schools are closing, and no one really knows what to do. Beneath it all is a larger issue that speaks volumes about the way natural resources are recklessly used over the long haul. Trigilio is sympathetic to the people whose lives and livelihoods are being overturned by drought and the diminishment of the aquifer, even as the film acknowledges that current conditions stem from a lack of wisdom and foresight. But what happens next is anyone's guess. A solid documentary that should spark discussion on critical environmental issues, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)