Water Words That Work

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department video “Texas The State of Springs” explores some tough controversies by letting both sides have their say. In this excerpt, Robert Potts from the Edwards Aquifer Authority squares off against Ken Kramer from the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. So who won? Watch and find out. This hour-long documentary, narrated by Walter Cronkite, examines the alarming decline of Texas' natural springs and addresses the current issues that directly impact spring flow and what can be done to save these vital resources.

Ken Kramer from the Sierra Club has got the winning argument: it's responsible to balance the needs of today with those of future generations. The state should plan ahead to make sure there's enough clean water in the aquifer in the decades to come.

Problem is, Ken didn't actually say that — he implied it. It's so obvious to him that it probably never occurred to him that it's not obvious to everybody else. And this a common mistake experts make, because experts can recognize the implications of the facts that regular people can't. The truth is that less than half of the people who watched the film were willing to take either Ken or Robert's side on this one:

Posted May 2007