Of Drought and Man in the West

Of Drought and Man in the West

https://www.propublica.org/series/killing-the-colorado



“Killing the Colorado,” a joint reporting project by ProPublica and Matter, set out to tell the truth about the American West’s water crisis. As serious as the drought is, the investigation found that mismanagement of that region’s surprisingly ample supply has led to today’s emergency. Among the causes are the planting of the thirstiest crops; arcane and outdated water rights laws; the unchecked urban development in unsustainable desert environments; and the misplaced confidence in human ingenuity to engineer our way out of a crisis — with dams and canals, tunnels and pipelines.

Four photographers – Christaan Felber, Bryan Schutmaat,Jake Stangel and Michael Friberg – were enlisted by photo editors Luise Stauss and Ayanna Quint to document man’s mistakes and their consequences.