A "tragedy of the commons" occurs when an individual or group uses more than their share of a publicly owned resource for their self-interest, which leads to the depletion of the resource for the entire community.
A FEATURE LENGTH, POINT-OF-VIEW DOCUMENTARY
In the early 1990s, agricultural corporations and other investors began buying thousands of acres of cultivated and uncultivated land with water rights in the scenic wine country of San Luis Obispo County, California. They planted more vineyards and sank dozens of deep, powerful wells for irrigation that have over-drafted the already depleted Paso Robles Basin aquifer. Around 2010, the shallower wells of hundreds of country homes and small farms and ranches began failing. This documentary tells that story through the voices of three small landowners who lost their livelihoods and hopes for their futures when their wells went dry. The film then follows how they and their supporters organize social force to participate in local political processes to assert their water rights and their concerns for the environmental health of the Paso Basin.
AWARDS
"Best Environmental Film," Better Earth International Film Festival.
"Best of Festival," WRPN Women's International Film Festival.
FILM FESTIVAL OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Documentaries Without Borders International Film Festival.