In the terrific serving of brain food that is "The Longest Straw," Samantha Bode backpacks the length of the Los Angeles Aqueduct; a 338-mile pipe that for a century has pulled water from the delicate ecosystems of inland California to satiate the massive consumption needs of America's second-largest city.
Melding our expanding need for environmental education with the adventurous whimsy of an exploratory hike, we soon come to understand the sheer volume of natural resource the aqueduct provides, and the reciprocal deprivation it exacts on the land the water is extracted from. What once was a legitimate farming community and a fragile ecosystem of lakes was marginalized in favor of a perceived greater good, and "The Longest Straw" examines that repercussive history with a fingerprinting of the terrain through which the pipe travels.
While impassioned, this isn't fire-and-brimstone activism delivered scathingly from the pulpit, but rather a crystallized presentation of cost versus reward. "The Longest Straw" heightens our neglected appreciation for one our most base needs -- the glorious benefit of imminently available water -- by exploring both the elemental wonder it provides and the corresponding tolls it can exact. - (Was this review of use to you? If so, let me know by clicking "Helpful." Cheers!)