Rivers at Risk – The Global Water Crisis Unveiled

Humanity is facing existential conflicts over the use and distribution of our most important resource. Water is scarce, but global demand is increasing exponentially. This episode uses international examples to show why the existential resource of water is becoming increasingly scarce and who is responsible. In Egypt, the film uncovers the redistribution of huge quantities of water in favor of large international corporations and to the detriment of local farmers. In the southwest of the USA, municipalities, industry, and farmers are fighting over the question of who has to save how much water. The Colorado River is used to illustrate the effects of the immense cultivation of animal feed for meat production. In India, projects using old seeds show the benefits of returning to natural water cycles. On the Ebro River in Spain, the documentary shows the overuse of water by the animal feed industry and the effects of extreme drought on the cycles of the natural river system.

The way we live and feed ourselves is wasting precious freshwater worldwide. What does this mean for our water cycles? Part 2 of the documentary highlights the problems and meets people with solutions. In India, the consequences of inadequate drinking water management under the pressure of climate change are particularly clear. The use of old, traditional techniques reveals possible solutions. In India, the film also illustrates the impact that the pollution of drinking water by the textile industry has on the population. In France, the river landscape of the Sélune is being renaturalized by dismantling a dam to return to a natural water cycle. In the USA, the threat posed to the environment and people in Mexico by the distribution of water from the Colorado River in favor of agriculture becomes clear. In Egypt, old and new methods of irrigation show a future for farmers on the Nile.