Robert Redford’s New Documentary: Watershed

Watershed, Robert Redford's newest movie, examines the Colorado River in the American West.

Once a mighty river, Redford’s documentary claims that it is “the most dammed, dibbed and diverted river in the world. Struggling to support thirty million people, it already runs dry before it reaches its natural end at the Gulf of California.”

Its future appears ominous due to global warming and booming populations of the seven American and two Mexican states that tap the river’s water not only to drink it, but also to support agriculture, sanitation and energy generation.

The documentary’s message, however, is not only one of warning. Through interviews with people that set good examples of how to use the Colorado for sport, ranching, conservation and tourism, it aims to inspire new ways of thinking about water and better ways in which to use it: “a new water ethic for the new west”.

Narrated by Redford, he says, “Watershed is a central tool in a larger grassroots effort focused on saving the Colorado River and supporting the communities throughout the river basin.”

See the Watershed trailer here.