The U.S. southwest is in a water crisis; it's a front line of climate change. This show takes you to places that rely on the Colorado River, to explore what we can do to ensure life in the region as it dries out. In this first episode, we get high up in the Rocky Mountains to see where our water comes from, and see ground zero for our water problems — the Hoover Dam — where we meet someone who predicted this crisis years before it happened. It's all to answer the question: Just how screwed are we? Part 1 of 10.
For more CPR News coverage of the Colorado River, visit cpr.org/parched.
Host: Michael Elizabeth Sakas
Written by Rachel Estabrook
Editors: Erin Jones, Joe Wertz
Production and Mixing: Emily Williams
Theme song by Kibwe Cooper. Additional music via Universal Production Music.
Artwork: Maria Juliana Pinzón
Executive Producers: Kevin Dale, Brad Turner
Additional Production Support: Alison Borden, Kibwe Cooper, Jo Erickson, Luis Antonio Perez, Rebekah Romberg, Taylar Dawn Stagner, Andrew Villegas
Thanks also to Sarah Bures, Hart Van Denburg, Jodi Gersh, Kim Nguyen, Clara Shelton, Arielle Wilson and Kevin J. Beaty.
Parched is a production of the Climate Solutions team of CPR News and Colorado Public Radio’s Audio Innovations Studio — part of the NPR Network.
Hoover Dam, less than an hour’s drive from the Las Vegas Strip, holds back water from the 242,000 square miles of the Colorado River Basin to form the 248 square miles of Lake Mead. The reservoir’s level has been dropping steadily because of aridification, and over-allocation of the lake’s water, exposing rock known as the “bathtub ring” not seen since the 1930s.
Boaters show the scale of depleted water levels on Lake Mead. The white rock known as the bathtub ring is created by minerals from lake water drying as the level drops.
Cars and RVs parked on the Arizona side of Hoover Dam show the scale of depleted water levels on Lake Mead. The white rock known as the bathtub ring is created by minerals from lake water drying as the level drops.
A blanket of snow covers the Kawuneeche Valley and the headwaters of the Colorado River in Rocky Mountain National Park, March 31, 2023. Snowpack in the Headwaters is 130 percent above average this winter; what that means for the over allocated river water and the 7 states that depend on it remains to be seen.
A blanket of snow covers the Kawuneeche Valley, the headwaters of the Colorado River, and trail marker signs in Rocky Mountain National Park, March 31, 2023. Snowpack in the Headwaters is 130 percent above average this winter; what that means for the over allocated river water and the 7 states that depend on it remains to be seen.
A blanket of snow covers the Kawuneeche Valley, the headwaters of the Colorado River, and trees burned by the East Troublesome fire, in Rocky Mountain National Park, March 31, 2023. Snowpack in the Headwaters is 130 percent above average this winter; what that means for the over allocated river water and the 7 states that depend on it remains to be seen.
