"The Longest Straw" -- A Film About How LA Gets Its Water
“THE LONGEST STRAW”
A Film by Samantha Bode
How L.A. gets its water, and how we can do better at water conservation.
[Nyerges is the author of “How to Survive Anywhere,” “Self-Sufficient Home,” “Extreme Simplicity: Homesteading in the City,” and other books. For information about his books and classes, he can be reached at Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041, or www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.]
“In the desert, all I thought about was water. Spending a week in the desert without water makes you in complete awe of the miracle of turning on a faucet,” she explains.
LADWP owns about 240,000 acres in the Owens Valley, including the land where the WWII Japanese internment camp was built at Mazanar.
Bode describes her trials and tribulations along the way, and the itinerant hikers and locals met along the way, each with a colorful story. From Braley Creek, to Lone Pine, to Independence, we watch her mile by mile trek, with constant commentary on the environment, and the people she meets. We meet tribal members along the way, and ranchers who’ve lives have been affected by the fact that Los Angeles owns their local water sources. One of the tribal members tells us, “The aqueduct is not a river. It has just one use – to move water to Los Angeles. A river snakes around, and there are many benefits along the way.”
After 65 days of hiking, Bode arrives at Mono Lake, which is 13 miles long, 9 miles wide, and about 160 feet deep. L.A. gets about 16,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Lake, depending on the water level of the lake.
If you’re looking for facts and figures about water usage in the city of Los Angeles, you should go to the DWP website, or even Mayor Garcetti’s website. This film has some of that, but it’s really a close up and personal look at the environmental consequences of what it takes to keep L.A. alive. Bode constantly points out that the large appetite for water by L.A. residents, and its wasteful use, has consequences to people far away that we’ve never met. But Bode has met some of them, and is telling their side of the story in this environmental film.
Bode’s presentation includes things that L.A.-area residents can do in their own lives to use less water. “We need to cut out some stuff,” says Bode, meaning that some of our wasteful water habits need to stop.
She shares the names of several of the local agencies which have been educating the public about water frugality. She shares several steps that people can take, such as recycling household grey water into one’s yard. She encourages people to plant native plants, and plants that don’t require excessive watering.
Bode shares some of the ways to save and utilize rainwater, such as inlets in curbs, and simply collecting rainwater in buckets (with lids) for landscape use. An average rooftop of 1000 square feet has the potential to divert up to 3000 gallons of water fairly quickly in a storm, assuming you have the means to collect it.
According to The Longest Straw website, “With Samantha’s inquisitive perspective as a window into this controversial topic, we learn much about the experience of diverse groups such as the Paiute-Shoshone people, cattle ranchers, ecologists, hikers, residents, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. By working together, humanity can ensure the future of reliable freshwater for all.”
For more information about Bode’s educational efforts, you can go to www.thelongeststraw.com.
Deleted Scene – The Longest Straw – Owens Valley Indian War from Longest Straw on Vimeo.
Source: http://christophernyerges.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-longest-straw-film-about-how-la.html
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