Follow the Water: The Film

Watch the 17-minute short documentary of our 100-mile source to sea journey for clean drinking water

Grab some popcorn — it’s here!

I am thrilled to share Follow the Water, Maine Mountain Media’s short documentary that follows our 100-mile source to sea journey down a vital Maine watershed.

On May 5th, 2024, in honor of National Drinking Water Week, outdoor photographer Andy Gagne and I embarked on a paddling expedition from Bethel, Maine, to Casco Bay, kayaking 100 miles with a small team of local adventurers and environmentalists. Our mission was to transport our audience into the watershed, demonstrating how the rivers, forests and wildlife are all so connected to the faucet, and to highlight the unique and creative ways people are working together to protect this water source for future generations.

This adventure takes place on the unceded ancestral lands of the Wabanaki people. It begins in the mountains, on Songo Pond in Bethel. Following the Crooked River, we wind our way to Sebago Lake. Continuing down the Presumpscot River, we complete our trip in Casco Bay, 100 miles from their start.

Along the way, as well as in the weeks surrounding our river trip, we spend a lot of time listening to the people who are connected to the watershed. We visit a spawning site for Atlantic salmon with a wildlife biologist, climb aboard a boat for a water monitoring trip with Portland Water District scientists, discuss Maine breweries’ reliance on the watershed over a beer with Allagash Brewing’s sustainability coordinator, hear from a First Nations poet and environmental activist about the cultural and spiritual importance of protected waterways, and meet with Sebago Clean Waters and participating land trusts as well as Friends of the Presumpscot River and Friends of Casco Bay about their work in river, ocean, and watershed protection.

The story that emerges paints a compelling picture of just how connected we all are — people, river, ocean, land — and how all of us are needed to speak up for clean water.

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Last weekend, we premiered this film to a packed house. We’re excited to see where it goes next. If you want to read an up-close-and-personal account of our journey, check out the essay I wrote about our adventure.

Thank you for being here, thank you for watching, and thank you for caring about clean water.