The Green River is beloved by anglers and river runners but in the arid West, it's also coveted by water and energy developers.

A new documentary by Nancy Green, "Green River: Divided Waters," examines the ageless controversy between preservation and exploitation and the role the river has played in history.

"The Green River, with its remote, beautiful and rugged landscape, is an incredible resource," says Green in a news release about the KUED Ch. 7 documentary. "It is the last wild river in the West and some of the last clean water along the Colorado. It is a ribbon of life. How do we figure out how to use this river? It's a question of balance."

The Green runs 730 miles from its Wyoming headwaters in the Wind River Mountains through Colorado and Utah, until it merges with the Colorado River near Moab. As the last wild stretch of a river system that supplies water to nearly 30 million people, the Green is the best hope for untapped water.

"Green River: Divided Waters" includes interviews with players in the controversy and also looks at the history -- from John Wesley Powell's first expedition into the unknown river in 1869 to the Echo Park Dam, where environmentalist David Brower said, "You're not going to flood this national park," to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and more recently to oil shale and gas development.

The documentary airs Nov. 9 at 9 p.m., and again on Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. But KUED will host a free screening of this Diverse Voices program on Nov. 3, at 7 p.m., at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 410 S. Campus Drive, on the University of Utah campus.