Against the immense and unforgiving landscape of the High Plains, farmers and local politicians in places like Olton, Texas, fight to keep their towns alive against the decline of the life-giving Ogallala Aquifer. In these communities and others like them, the reality of groundwater decline is colliding with the legacy of independence and self-reliance that turned the High Plains into a fertile dreamscape. Written on Water is a moving elegy for an aquifer, equal parts visual poetry and harsh reality.