Polluted Future

Post-Production Producer and Editor, 2021

Polluted Future: New Mexico Clean Water Under Threat is 7-part short films series about how changes to the Clean Water Act by the past administration disproportionately affects New Mexico’s freshwater systems. On June 22, 2020, the EPA finalized a rule that goes well beyond the court rulings and strips Clean Water Act protections for up to 96% of New Mexico’s waters. New Mexico is disproportionately affected by this 2020 Dirty Water Rule because of the large number of small streams in the state that flow only during wet times of the year. These smaller ephemeral streams have historically been protected by the Clean Water Act but under the new rule they are left unprotected.

Unlike federal rollbacks in other areas of environmental protection, New Mexico’s waters do not have state protections to fall back on. New Mexico is one of just three states that does not have delegated authority from the EPA to regulate discharges of pollution into rivers, streams, and lakes. There is now no entity with regulatory authority to manage existing discharges from the wastewater treatment plants, mines, federal facilities, and other polluters that currently discharge into these smaller New Mexico streams.

CAVU uses visual storytelling and community engagement to support local solutions to the global climate problem. As a nonprofit working across the North American West, CAVU uniquely blends science and personal stories to reconnect people with each other and the planet they live on. We believe elevating diverse voices is an antidote to prejudice, partisanship, and cynicism when working on environmental and social justice issues.