ProPublica’s reporting on the water crisis in the American West was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in national reporting. Informed. Surprising. Damning. Engaging and enraging. Full of secrets and solutions. The five-part series by Abrahm Lustgarten — aided by the work of Al Shaw, Naveena Sadasivam and Jeff Larson — amounted to a sophisticated and searing indictment of years of flawed public policy, at the local and national level. Moved by that reporting, Discovery Channel enlisted five accomplished documentary filmmakers to create “Killing the Colorado.” Premiering as part of DISCOVERY IMPACT, a series of groundbreaking documentaries with a focus on what individuals and society can do to protect our planet, “Killing the Colorado” airs Thursday, Aug. 4, at 9 p.m. The film will also be available on Discovery.com, Discovery Go, and Discovery On Demand on Aug. 5. Watch the trailer.
Read two of Lustgarten’s articles on topics directly tackled by the film:
- “Liquid Assets,” published in partnership with the Atlantic.
- “Drought be Damned,” published in partnership with the New York Times.
Explore ProPublica’s entire series, Killing the Colorado.
