Water: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

As someone who lives in Utah, John going on about the state and our governor was completely earned. Our state's leaders rarely do anything that makes sense or actually helps.

The fact a leader of a state can go on TV and ask the entire state to pray a problem away so he doesn't have to do his job is terrifying.

In case you were wondering who was keeping drought records in the southwest during 800 AD, it was the trees 🌳

My family’s well in AZ went dry in 1996 and I grew up like those folks did. Showered at friend’s or in the school locker rooms when we could, did laundry at laundromats, flushed toilets with buckets of already used water. House never felt clean and it was a constant source of stress. When i moved to the city and could flush my toilet with the handle instead of a bucket I literally cried.

You know, I'm gonna just thank John Oliver and HBO for putting his main content for free on YT. I'm an HBOMax subscriber so they already have my money. They are putting out important info for free.

Hey Coloradan here! I did a water usage project in like the 4th grade (probably 14 years ago) and discovered a lot of of content John just presented on - including that Colorado snowmelt is the sole watershed for like 7 states and 4-5 territories of Mexico and that we allocate way more than we actually have. Even an 11 year old saw the writing on the wall that the western states were in massive trouble - I was traumatized and avoided taking baths for years and begged my parents to get rid of the lawn! I could never figure out why my teachers weren’t as surprised or alarmed as I was. Just sayin, If an elementary school student understands that the only way to solve this problem is to actually reduce water usage along the watershed, so should our elected officials!!

My dad is a groundwater microbiologist and my family has lived in Colorado for generations. My dad said that when he was a kid it never got too hot even in the summer. Flash forwards thirty years and my parent's house IN TOWN almost burned down twice in the span of three months. Our neighbors lost everything including pets to the fires and my parents are seeing their house and moving to a less burnable area. Last year we didn't get our first snow until January (the day after the devastating fire). And as a child through adulthood I went to summer camp in the Rockies and worked as a counselor, only to evacuate the camp three years in a row due to fires. Colorado is in trouble. And as far as states go it's probably one of the luckier ones for water. We are all in trouble.

The fact that Vegas can have huge water shows and still be beneficial on their water supply should really be a wakeup call that we can actively do something to help the situation if we really tried, without having to lose all of the luxuries we once had. Sure some things have to go and change, but if we actively make these changes there are many things we can keep that we wont be able to if we dont act fast.

Lived in Vegas as a kid. Every museum and science field trip stressed the importance of water conservation and how dire the situation was for the future of the city and the southwest as a whole. Decades later, its in the exact place everyone said it would be. Its almost at the point where the Hoover Dam won't be able to provide any power. I am hoping these cities that keep approving golf courses and mega resorts in the desert become the biggest ghost towns in history.

As a indigenous woman, we have known about this problem for a long time. Even before Glen canyon dam was built. We warned the US government. We’re just ignoring the problem at hand. Like nothing is happening. Oliver hasn’t even talked about our aquifers that are not drinkable due to uranium mining on the Navajo reservation. As native people, we are not even in the talks about water. A few years ago John McCain tried to pass SB 2109 (Navajo-Hopi Little Colorado River Water Settlement) he came to Navajo trying to negotiate our water with the state of AZ. While the whole state has majority of the Colorado River. Navajo chased John McCain off of the Navajo reservation and his offer. We need water too!

I'm European and seeing that a state head in the USA apparently thinks it's a reasonable solution to pray for rain in the 21st century is just so mind-blowing, I don't know if I'm more shocked or scared. Someone in a charge that high should at least believe in science or be able to gather a team of experts who can explain the topic to him and help find a solution.... Right?! 😳😳

I live in Western Australia and here there is a groundwater replenishment scheme that I don't think many people know about. Purified wastewater is pumped underground and will get back to aquifers in about 30 years. We also have desalination plants off the coast because rainfall is increasingly not enough to supply the city of Perth

I live in Tucson, Arizona and my entire life we learned about water conservation. We even had people come to our school to teach us how we can conserve water because we are always in a drought. Our landscaping is just rocks and cactus. But just 2 hours north in Phoenix every house has lawns, all the neighborhoods have lakes and it just makes me feel sick. I grew up knowing when the best time to water plants is so the water doesn't evaporate and then I see people who are acting like we dont only get 9 inches of rain each year. This is such a serious problem and it feels like no one is taking it seriously.

I'm from Arizona, and Ive seen "rock gardens" and "gravel lawns" more beautifully decorated than any water-wasting patch of grass ever was. Rock lawns may not fit the style of the eastern usa, but in the desert, it looks wonderful and you can get some truly beautiful and artistic lawns using only sand, gravel and rocks, with maybe a few cacti for some color. The shades of red, and grey, and tan from the gravel lawns can literally be made into art at the front of the house without using a single drop of water, and absolutely no maintenance. I wish and hope this becomes the standard for the south-west

Once again, Brian Cox delivers an authentic performance, capturing the spirit and intent of the character he portrays. Bravo, sir!

Living in an RV with no running water and now being homeless and staying in a campsite I can really see how terrible the situation is. Just getting water for my cat Is difficult.

I lived in Vegas when they started the “No lawns” and I was surprised how little people argued against it. I’m not saying some people weren’t upset but surprisingly it was pretty much a “that makes sense” moment. Also they were going around and offering to “buy” peoples lawns and replace them with decorative gravel. I took them up on that offer. Saved a ton of money on no longer caring for a lawn

In Cape Town, South Africa we literally had a countdown a few years ago where we would've been the first city in the world to run out of water...

"All faiths....or one of the many wrong ones!" As a Utah resident, this was an amazingly accurate and insightful set of comments by Oliver.

When I was younger living in southern California even as a little girl I felt the dire situation we were in. I remember I would constantly say "why are they building new homes? Where will they get water for their showers? How does this make any sense?" I used to NEVER pour out the last bit of icky water that had been sitting in my cup and collecting dust. I would give it to a plant or animal.