Parched

When the financial crisis hit in 2008, fast-rising water fees resulted in thousands of residents without access to water in their homes, and precipitated Flint, Michigan’s disastrous decision to draw water from the Flint River. This episode explores an alarming trend in the water sector, where Wall Street banks control municipalities, ultimately holding the everyday American’s water supply in their grip.

In West Virginia, a cattle farmer traces the deterioration of his livestock to illegal dumping in the Ohio River in in the 1980s, unraveling a corporate conspiracy by DuPont that leaves thousands at risk. In California’s Central Valley, oil companies have moved into agricultural areas — but when heavy lobbying results in lax oversight and regulation, the result is water contamination.

In the shadowy outskirts of India’s capital city, a powerful water mafia steals water from government and private reserves, and sells it to those who can pay the hefty price. Meanwhile in Syria, ISIS uses the region’s limited water supply as a weapon, capturing dams and leaving the locals who depend on them helpless. Get a foreboding look at the world’s future through the lens of the global water supply.