DRY WELLS OF THE PASO BASIN: A TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS 

DRY WELLS OF THE PASO BASIN: A TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS  imageDRY WELLS OF THE PASO BASIN: A TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS  imageDRY WELLS OF THE PASO BASIN: A TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS  image
                         

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. (William Foster Lloyd, 1833; Garret Hardin, 1968)

I collaborated with Boris Jocoy, Artistic Director of ShadoWalker Media, on Dry Wells of The Paso Basin: A Tragedy of the Commons, a feature length, point-of-view documentary. We investigated the social and environmental status of San Luis Obispo County's Paso Basin. Begining in the 1990s, agricultural corporations and other investors began buying thousands of acres of cultivated and uncultivated land with water rights in the County's pastoral wine country. They planted new vineyards and drilled dozens of 800 feet in depth wells that pump the Paso Basin's water into vast irrigation ponds. Due to this and other factors, such as population growth and climate change, wells of 200 to 400 feet in depth that had long provided fresh water for residences and small farms and ranches began drying up. Most of the folks with dry wells cannot afford the $80,000 needed to drill deeper, and without water, their land has no collateral value for a drilling loan. This documentary tells that story through a focus on three small landowners whose livelihoods and hopes for their futures have been threatened by dried up wells -- and by following how they organize social force to participate in local political processes to assert their water rights.

THE OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR DRY WELLS IS AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING ON:
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/1008664313
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWtAjW2ES4s

AWARDS
  • "Best of Festival," WRPN Women's International Film Festival.
  • "Best Feature Film," Mysuru International Water Film Festival.
  • "Best Environmental Documentary," Better Earth International Film Festival.
  • "Outstanding Excellence," Documentaries Without Borders International Film Festival.
  • "Best of Show," Depth of Field International Film Festival.
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
  • Cinema Verde International Environmental Film Festival.
  • WRPN Women's International Film Festival.
  • Better Earth International Film Festival.
  • Mysuru International Water Film Festival.
  • Documentaries Without Borders International Film Festival.
  • Depth of Field International Film Festival.
  • Southern California International Film Festival.
  • Babul Eco Film Festival.