How One River Changed California's History Forever

The Greatest Water Heist in History.

TILSCIENCE X PBS ORIGINS: ‘The California Water Wars’

Today I Learned Science is honored to collaborate with PBS Origins for Earth Day to explore the darker and lighter sides of environmental history in the United States. We explore who really owns California’s water and why over the course of 170 years starting from the Gold Rush in the 1850s all the way to 2025.

---

PBS ORIGINS x TILSCIENCE: ‘How Alabama Became the Nation’s Toilet’

While we cover California, PBS Origins covers the American South, specifically Alabama, where exists one of the largest hazardous waste landfills in the country where Americans send their most toxic waste in the backyards of some of the poorest communities. Learn more about the Emelle hazardous landfill, why it’s there and what’s being done to protect the predominantly Black communities that live around it.

---

INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR DAVID SEDLAK

To supplement the California Water Wars video, we interviewed Professor David Sedlak, an American environmental engineer and currently a Professor at University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Sedlak is an expert on chemical contaminants, the fate of water resources and transport of and transformation of chemicals in the aquatic environment and more. We discussed the big questions about water contamination, scarcity and conservation in California. Enjoy!