Introducing “How We Survive: The Worth of Water”
How We Survive
Marketplace
5 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 11 October 2023
⏱️ 3 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the American West. Millions of people rely on it to live. But we’re using more water than the river has to give, and it’s already lost trillions of gallons to rising temperatures since 2000. Meanwhile, rampant growth and water-intensive farming have depleted groundwater supplies. This means Western states must fundamentally rethink how water is divided up and used. In this season of “How We Survive,” we find an oasis in the desert, float down Las Vegas’ finest canal and give wastewater a taste as we continue our hunt for solutions to the climate crisis.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | But I'm going to sing for you, ready for some music. I'm totally ready. |
| 0:05.0 | It's not every day you find yourself drifting down a canal on a gondola, being serenated by a man named Marcello, |
| 0:19.8 | I could almost convince myself I was in Venice, if it weren't for the clouds painted on the ceiling. |
| 0:26.4 | I'm actually in a Las Vegas resort and the water is piped in from the Colorado River. |
| 0:33.0 | It seems kind of weird to be on a canal in the middle of the desert, |
| 0:37.0 | am I right? |
| 0:38.0 | Above a casino. |
| 0:40.0 | We're on the second floor. |
| 0:41.0 | Right, we're on the second floor in a canal in the desert. |
| 0:45.0 | 216,000 gallons of water above the restaurants. |
| 0:50.8 | Wow. |
| 0:51.6 | Hope the floor is strong. |
| 0:54.0 | I'm Amy Scott, host of how we survive, a podcast for Marketplace about people navigating solutions to a changing climate. |
| 1:08.0 | I spent the summer floating, driving, and hiking across the southwest, where one thing on everyone's mind |
| 1:16.2 | is water, and how to get your hands on some. |
| 1:19.6 | Whiskeys are drinking water. |
| 1:22.4 | It's for fighting. |
| 1:23.0 | It has been a constant battle against Mother Nature. |
| 1:27.0 | You want water? I can get you all the water you want. |
| 1:29.0 | You just going to have to pay for it. |
| 1:31.0 | A mega drought has plagued the region for more than 20 years. The go-to-source of water, the Colorado River can no longer |
| 1:39.5 | accommodate everyone, and the West is still grappling with the unequal way water rights were distributed in the first place. |
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