Water, Inc.: A Brief Study into the Politics of Water in the Arid West

Abstract

The thesis revolves around politics of water in the American West, arguing that the current problems regarding water in the American West stem from decisions made in the first half of the twentieth century as economic development and progress were deemed more important than the sustainable management of the arid lands, which John Wesley Powell had warned against. Present issues in respect to water rights and privatization come to fore in contemporary documentaries and feature films, which can be related back to, and are best understood, when looking at this history as they illustrate the power of water as a commodity and its connection to popular culture.