The Platte River Basin, located in America’s Heartland, is one of the most appropriated river systems in the world. Every drop of water is spoken for, and little is free. The basin supports an industrial agricultural powerhouse laid over one of the most endangered and altered grassland ecosystems on earth. Beneath the ground, it harbors more than half of the mighty Ogallala Aquifer, fossil water whose quantity and quality are at stake. Today this basin is being asked to be both food producer and energy pump in an age of climate change and economic uncertainty.
What if we could use the power of photography and story to see our water in motion?
What if we could leverage those images to build community and grow understanding of our watersheds?
In 2011, Michael Forsberg and veteran NET Nebraska producer Michael Farrell set off on a journey to put a Great Plains watershed in motion using timelapse photography and multimedia storytelling. Platte Basin Timelapse (PBT) has more than 70 timelapse cameras spread across the 90,000 square-mile basin; each timelapse camera tells one part of the story of that proverbial drop of water as it journeys roughly 900 river miles through the heart of North America.
Today, PBT is a conservation storytelling project that builds community around our watershed. Its team consists of multi-talented professionals who tell stories, create films, give presentations, host events, teach classes, and conduct research.
To learn more, visit PlatteBasinTimelapse.com
