The Kings and Queens of "the Water Prom"

Outside/In

NHPR

Society & Culture, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Nature, Science

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2024

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Colorado River – and the people that rely on it – are in a state of crisis. Climate change and overuse are taking a significant toll. Seven states must compromise and reach a solution to prevent the river from collapsing. In late 2023, tensions were running high between the major players in the water world as they convened at the annual Colorado River conference in Las Vegas. LAist Correspondent Emily Guerin was there, seeking to learn as much as she can about the people with the most power on the river, including a sharply-dressed 28-year-old from California. This episode comes to us from the podcast Imperfect Paradise, which is releasing a whole series on the Colorado River water crisis. SUPPORT Donate $10 per month and get our new “I axolotl questions” mug! Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!). Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook. LINKS Agriculture uses a lot of the Colorado River - what if we replaced that farmland with solar panels? Speaking of farms, most of the crops raised with Colorado River water don’t go to people. They go to cows. CREDITS This episode was written and reported by Emily Guerin Imperfect Paradise host: Antonia Cereijido Fact-checking by Gabriel Dunatov. Mixing and Imperfect Paradise theme music by E. Scott Kelly with additional music by Andrew Eapen. Outside/In Host: Nate Hegyi Outside/In Executive producer: Taylor Quimby Our staff includes Justine Paradis and Felix Poon Rebecca Lavoie is NHPR’s Director of On-Demand Audio Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio Submit a question to the “Outside/Inbox.” We answer queries about the natural world, climate change, sustainability, and human evolution. You can send a voice memo to outsidein@nhpr.org or leave a message on our hotline, 1-844-GO-OTTER (844-466-8837). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, this is Outside In, I'm Nave Hedgy.
0:04.0	If you've ever taken a shower in Los Angeles, or drank a cold glass of water to nurse a hangover in Las Vegas,
0:11.0	you can thank the Colorado River.
0:13.0	It supplies water to millions of people in the desert southwest.
0:18.0	It also hydrates the farms that grow most of the nation's winter
0:25.2	vegetables, so if you like eating salads in December, tip your cap to the big CO. But lately, that river has been in trouble. It's been drying up because of climate change and overuse,
0:37.0	putting the nation at risk of losing a lot.
0:41.0	But honestly, this is an issue that is not easy to cover. A lot of the stories I've heard,
0:47.6	they get to wonky, too watery. They don't focus enough on the people behind the story.
0:55.0	That's why I was so excited to listen to a new series about the river from the podcast
0:59.7	Imperfect Paradise.
1:02.2	It's hosted by Antonia Serajido and it starts with
1:05.2	environmental reporter Emily Garin critiquing her own reporting on the
1:09.7	river from a few years ago when she was doing something very cliche.
1:18.4	So I'm standing at Lake Mead, the bath to bring is super obvious.
1:23.6	And that's, that the ring is what shows how far the lake has shrunk since it was full.
1:28.4	Oh my God, this is so embarrassing for me to listen to now.
1:31.4	Okay, well this is obviously Emily Garin who's now joined me and Emily what are you doing in that audio we just heard?
1:38.0	Well I'm trying to get the take right so I keep doing it over and over and like walking back and forth on top of the dam and oh my
1:46.2	God it's just so cliche Antonio like every journalist who's ever reported on the Colorado
1:51.4	River has done a stand-up on Hoover Dam and talked
1:53.6	about the bathtub ring. I'm standing on the top of the Hoover Dam right now.
	...

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