River’s End: California’s Latest Water War (2021)

River’s End explores the global water crisis, using California as a microcosm. It shows how water politics that led to the draining of the Owens Valley by Los Angeles, made famous by the film Chinatown, continue to this day in ongoing efforts to take ever more water from Northern California’s San Francisco Bay estuary. Except this time, the water grab is at the hands of industrial agriculture and its powerful corporate investors. River’s End inspires viewers to learn where their water comes from so that we can save our rivers and the ecosystems and communities that depend upon them. —Kevin RobertsI watched River’s End at its virtual premier at Wild & Scenic Film Festival, where it took home both the Jury Prize and the People’s Choice Award. It’s beautiful, compelling, and cracks open the story we’ve been hearing about for over a decade now. First off, the shots of the Delta are enough to keep you in awe and captivated by the beauty of central California for the entirety of the runtime, but aside from the visuals, this doc has been a conversation starter for me many, many times. It takes an issue so vast and so formidable, yet it elucidates it in a clear and insightful call to action: know where your water comes from. What makes River’s End work so well is that it includes the full spectrum of perspectives that relate to the story: the politicians, the farmers, the scientists, the private interests; the list goes on and on and they all grip you tightly to the issue at hand. I feel confident now that I do know where my water comes from, and –arguably more importantly– I know what and who we are up against in this fight. I truly can’t recommend this enough.Do you know where your water comes from?