"He created a water issue on which both of these candidates could agree, and that is that we should not open the Colorado River Compact." -- Sara Duncan, moderator of last week's U.S. Senate debate at the Colorado Water Congress.
[Jane] Seymour was the main attraction at a Democratic National Convention reception to feature the film before some of the nation's leading Democrats, including New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md.
The film includes interviews with such Western lawmakers as U.S. Sens. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and Pete Domenici, R-N.M. "The only time many people understand the importance of water is when they don't have it," Salazar says in the film, produced by Jim Thebaut. "As we get into a water shortage situation, that's when people will awaken and start understanding the importance of water."[...]
Thebaut, who's produced other documentaries about global water needs, said his hope is to spark a discussion about water needs not only in the Southwest, but across the nation. "I focused on the spine of the water, and the fact that the Colorado is at the lowest level that it's ever been," he said. "I talk about public policy, then I talk about technology and then I talk about conservation, and how everyone has to get involved. It's a multidimensional approach to getting everybody stirred up. People have to recognize that this is like a train coming down the track, and nobody is even aware of it." The film focuses on the dwindling water supplies in the West, the drought that has plagued the region for several years, and the effects climate change has had on water supplies. At the same time, it calls for more water conservation measures, such as replacing water-hungry lawns with drought-tolerant plants, and a greater emphasis on finding alternative water sources, such as desalination plants along the West Coast...
While Thebaut's film avoids a partisan slant, Democrats in the room couldn't resist chastising the presumptive GOP candidate for president, Arizona Sen. John McCain, for his recent call for renegotiating the 1922 Colorado River Water Compact. "Senator McCain's insensitivity toward Western Water gives Democrats a fighting chance to win the White House," Richardson said. "The Colorado River pact is sacrosanct to all of us Westerners, so even for a president of the United States (opening the pact) is a senseless policy."
