[ ♪♪ ] on the weekend edition of "america tonight", why they run. children with autism and the impulses that can lead them to bolt towards danger. >> i could hear the front door close. i knew something was wrong, i ran downstairs screaming her name screaming her name couldn't find her anywhere. good to the last drop. what is draining away california's water. "america tonight"s michael oku in the imperial valley on the

part all of us play in the crisis. >> you couldn't necessarily know this is a barren wasteland. every place i look there's water. there's water down to my right and water down to my left as far as the eye can see a closer look@ -- look at california in crisis. whose water is it anyway? that's correct for joining us of all the demand keeping california from going with the flow farms face the toughest accusations of draining away the state's precious resource. and that is water. california is now in the fourth year of an unprecedented drought, mandatory water cuts took effect, environmentalists sued the state, charging it with favouring farms over fish. and other wildlife. now the fight really is on as "america tonight"s michael oku found california grappling with a touch question - whose water

is it. you are looking at santa barbara, anything but a lagoon these days. nothing much to see, except some weeds. another casualty of the drought. >> it's bone dry, bone dry. >> carol lee says residents and businesses are paying the price for a 3-year severe dry spell. >> we have been given small allocations, and if we go over them, we are fined very heavily. >> what is very heavily? >> i was told, for example, that there are some heavy user paying $50,000 a month. >> 50,000. >> in fines. >> reporter: in fines. statewide communities are forced to cut water consumption or face fines, with an exception. you want to see water usage on steroids, go out to the dry

desert regions like the imperial valley. >> reporter: university of california san diego professor steve erie is an expert on water use. agriculture has been hit badly, that may be in portions of the central valley, it's not the case on the colorado, with the imperial valley. >> this is where he's talking about. the western part of the sinoran desert. near the arizona-mexican border. and not far from the colorado river. it gets on average three inches of rain annually, and is in the 15th year of a drought. it's pretty much the last place you expect to grow thirsty crops like cotton and wheat, alf-alfa and grass. that is exactly what is happening. >> we don't grow.

but farmers grow in the valley. >> the family has been farming for 100 years. >> how do you grow grass in the middle of the desert? >> well, you just add water. >> and do they ever. more than 880 billion gallons of colorado river water is used every year by this farming community of less than 200,000 people. the entire rest of southern california uses less than half of that. >> you wouldn't necessarily know that this is a waste land. every place i look there is water. there's water all the way down to my right, and water to my left as far as the eye can see. fields are flooded daily, using a massive irrigation system. primarily for one crop. >> over half of the water and half of the acreage goes for alfalfa. now, we have been beating up on

almonds, but, you know, the alfalfa uses 2.5 times as much water as almonds. and everywhere you turn, you see it. alfalfa, which is turned into hay. grown green, bundled blond. it wasn't always this way. imperial valley was uninhabitable until a canal system was designed in 1901, delivering the cold fields into an emerald carpet. >> it's a crazy place to raise a water intensive crop. it is profitable crop. it's 240 to $300 worth of water, producing on average a crop yield yearly of about $1,000, if not more.

some of the alf-alfa hay is sent overseas. destined for places like asia and the united arab emirates to feed cattle. >> take hay-day farms, a grower in black. they shift up to 50 trucks of hay to oversea markets, according to reports. >> this is a high-value crop for the area. it's a major crop. high economic impact on the valley. and everyone that lives here. >> and some of it has been grown by fellow farmers to feed hamsters in japan. >> they used to sell it as pellets for hampsters, and now they don't do it. someone else took it over. competition, i guess, i don't know. crops don't just need water to grow. they retain the water. according to a study, 50 billion gallons of river water travelled to china, embedded in alfalfa.

these farmers are not subject to any of the state's water restrictions, even if the crops are exported abroad or it's hampster feed. california law allows water for anything considered beneficial use. >> why is feed for hamsters in japan of beneficial use. >> it's feed. feed is an agricultural use. broadly defined. you may not like it, but it's covered. >> reporter: how is it that you can grow the thirsty crops in the middle of a drought of the a lot of people would think it's crazy. well, we have water rights that are very old, and we have the rights to that water, and so that's why we have the water to grow the crops. >> california water law like other western states is based on

a simple premise. first in time, first in right. simply put, whatever got to the river first had the rights to it. the first arrivals enjoyed senior rights. those that followed have junior rights. i have friends on the east coast. in the other parts of the country who hear this and say how can a private individual own the rights to a source like water. >> it is nuts, we are talking more than almonds and pistachios. according to erie water right holders control 75% of the claims on the colorado river. they control how much waters cities like los angeles and san diego get. something not lost on the farmer. >> we are covered with water. >> they are the kings on top of the hill. it's not just liquid gold, it's the holy grail. and it is power.

>> water and power have gone hand in hand for decades. back in 1901, the motto said it all. water is king. but california's unprecedented drought caused some to think the unthinkable - dethrone the water kings. >> a lot of people don't understand, you know, what it takes to farm and grow the crops. they are not cognisant of all that is involved. it takes water. >> the population out here is so small relative to the amount of water you have the rights to. is it unreasonable to put the discussion of water rights on the stable. >> we have the rights to the water, i don't see what the art -- argument is. we do have to feed the nation,

and where is the water going to go. are you trying to change water right, and you'll have 100 lawsuits from all different directions, and that's the way it's been since we populated the country. for the states to take over those water rights by eminent domain and compensate the farmers would be expensive. the price for rice owned for decades would have too many zeros to count. >> why can't we change the water rites. >> we can do it. it's an expensive proposition, it's like buying a house. it's about just compensation. eminent domain, and it depends upon current market rates. the thing is the rate for water the question is do we want to pay the piper. >> responding to the reality of the drought. some farmers are switching to

drip systems, and are fowling fallowing crops. they are voluntary. city dwellers face restrictions and fines. here the farmers call the shots. >> in a drought, he or she who has water is king or queen. water flows uphill. never forget that correspondent michael oku reminds us there is a way to save the demands on the limited supply. the state is the number one agricultural producer in the united states growing half of the nation's fruit, vegetables and nuts means the understood all of us wants to eat is helping to drain away california's water. next the scorned strike back.

angry exes nasty online slams, can revenge important be stopped. later, on the run. children living with autism and their parents straight attempts to keep them botting away. >> i did everything i could. >> many families on the autistic spectrum are not made aware of. why do they run? where are they going? and what can communities do to save them?

our fast-forward segment on the moment when private lives go public. maybe you sent racy shots on your phone. between you and your significant other, right. well unless the relationship goes bad, and the private parts are exposed. what is worse, go between. who make a business of exposing yours. "america tonight"s adam may found an explosion out there of

revenge porn. >> reporter: it started with a romantic rerequest. >> he asked i'd love to take pictures of you, you are beautiful. >> reporter: months later, this english professor became the victim of revenge porn. her intimate photos posted online for the world to see. >> the title of the link was the name of my college, english professor, nude photos. >> reporter: what do you thing is shocking that you learnt? >> the entire thing is shocking. >> reporter: adam is a blocker in los angeles, and hunts down people who solicit and public nonconsensual pornography. >> someone is really hurting people. there are people who lose their jobs, kicked out of their homes, lose their relationships because somebody in a petty moment of revenge wanted to lash out at someone. worse than that are the people that operate the websites as a

means to profit off of that revenge, and the pain that they are causing. >> reporter: you mean extortion. >> yes, almost every website has an extortionist element to it. >> reporter: mary ann franks is a law professor at the university of miami and advised legislators how to write laws making revenge porn illegal. the hesitation is that there'll be another site waiting in the wings. yes, you can take this down today and this one tomorrow but until we have really strong federal penalties in place, we are not going to see the end of revenge porn sites. >> reporter: a handful of sites are online plating out of foreign countries. the feds cannot do much about it, because there's no federal legislation. once the pictures are out there, they are out there. >> unless a victim has enough money to pay a lawyer hundreds an hour to go after the guys not many are willing to take the

case. >> reporter: that's what happened to cheah. she couldn't afford a lawyer for a civil case and maryland police never pursued criminal charges. fast-forward to the scorn striking back an american woman took the fight to the u.k. christy chambers said her former boyfriend recorded video of them having sex and uploaded it to a porn site while he was in england. the u.s. has an anti-important law, chambers is the first to pursue criminal action under it next when everything was not enough to keep her daughter safe. >> i was always with her. >> reporter: you wanted to do everything to keep her safe? >> yes children living with autism and the impulses put them at risk. why a surprising number bolt even from those that would keep them safe. and where they run. and an investigation into a health care tragedy. next week on "america tonight"

mothers too poor to deserve proper care from doctors. >> they knew it was wrong. they knew that they were preying upon a vulnerable population and they felt they could be sacrificed. the indiana hospital under investigation for damaged lives of babies. that investigation tuesday on "america tonight".

health care tragedy. of babies.of babies.

every year we see rapid increases in the number of people diagnosed with autism. yet so much is a mystery. what causes it. why some who live with it can communicate freely than others. whether it can or should be cured.

we do know that autism is not a fatal diagnosis, but the mortality rate for people with autism is almost twice as high as the rest of the population. how could that be? why is the government not willing to do more to protect people living with autism from the impulses within themselves. . >> savannah, peeka bu. popcorn. >> reporter: in her brief life, savannah martin reached beyond the experts expectations. >> match, flower. good looking that time. >> reporter: learnt more than doctors ever thought she would. >> let's count. >> when savannah was diagnosed with severe autism at two, she told her mother not to expect too much. >> she'll never look at you,

she's never going to talk to you or say "i love you." that was hard. thankfully i had amazing people in my life that said "don't give up. never give up, you fight." >> reporter: intensive therapy helped, so did her mother's nearly constant attention. >> i did everything i could for her. i thought she was safe. i was always with her. >> reporter: you wanted to do everything to keep her safe. >> yes, i showered her that morning. >> reporter: that morning. beth remembers a bright, sunny sunday. savannah was in her church dress when beth put a bowl of noodles in the microwave. >> she loves noodles. she liked it watch the noodles spin in the microwave. kids in autism like that. >> reporter: four minutes, enough for the harried single mum with a toddler and preteen, 4 minutes, just enough to answer the call of nature. by the time i flushed the toilet i heard the front door closed and i knew something was wrong.

panic hit. i ran downstairs. she wasn't by the microwave. i ran out the front door, i screamed her name, couldn't find her anywhere. >> reporter: savannah and her 2-year-old brother tommy who doesn't have a disability didn't respond. they got past a barbed wire fence into a bond, not 50 yards from the home. tommy had been wearing a bicycle helmet that kept his head above water and kept him alive. the desperate mother couldn't breathe life back into savannah. >> i just - i - it was just - i ... >> reporter: tried to keep her. >> i got to keep her alive. i've got to do this. and i did that until the mts came. i kept screaming "you have to they took over. say her, you have to say her." >> reporter: savannah's story is a case of what experts call eloping, wondering for bolting.

>> they wait for a chance to bolt. for my son, it's certain sounds. this they will make him run away quickly. if you are unprepared for that, you may not catch him in time. >> by quickly you mean in a second. >> in an instant. it's an immediate flight or fright response, and the unpredictability and the impulsivity of it makes it dangerous. laurie knows that first hand. connor was seven when he bolted out of school. >> it was a wake up call for us. kids with autism - they are fascinated with certain topics and for him it was highway exit signs. he headed on foot to the highway to find his favourite exit sign. >> reporter: a driver that saw connor got him to safety, but it led mcilroy to track how common it is. >> i'm lori mackillwane...

>> reporter: and what may save more children. kids with autism at this moment could make a break for it, happens every day, every week. >> 35% attempt to wonder once a week. >> 35%. >> and 23% try to wonder multiple times per day. >> reporter: researchers at the kennedy craiger institute found half bolt around age 4, up to eight times as the unaffected siblings most often. they are drawn to roadways or to water. >> most wandering cases are not reported, those that are, we track them and put them in here. the yellow lines indicate that the child died. we see a lot of drowning deaths, and that is the leading cause of wandering related deaths. >> reporter: in one of nation's closely followed bolter cases, 14-year-old quentin's left his

school, captured on security cameras. searchers failed to track a path to the east river, where his body was found three months later. it was devastating news for his stepbrother who searched along side hundreds of volunteers. >> being in the area is very rough for me. the same way we were out here tirelessly for months and months. it hurt a lot to know the ending was so tragic. >> avonte's case was a rallying cry. lori and other parents say beg lawmakers for small fixes, tracking bracelets, fences - saying it could go a long way in saving lives. >> when you have a child who cannot speak, who does not understand danger or ways to keep themselves safe, they are the most vulnerable people living in the country today, and we thank you for any support you

can give us. >> support the federal government provides for those with alzhiemer's or dementia, which is why lori is on capitol hill. pleading for funds. kids with autism are not eligible for the silver alerts or others. police departments are are not always trained to search for them. >> some kids are afraid of canines, sirens or helicopters, and they may hide. not understanding the loss, that someone is helping them. >> reporter: compounding the pain, suspicion about the parent's role when a child bolts. >> a lot of our parents are afraid to dial 911 for fear of being accused of neglect. we had to go out and encourage parents to call 911 if their

child is missing. >> reporter: days after her daughter died in her arms, child protective services concluded that it was beth's fault. you were negligent. >> yes, they said i was negligent. >> but you were the mother with her every minute. >> i didn't take her to the bathroom with me. i didn't take the three children to the bathroom with me. >> that was your act of negligence. >> yes. >> reporter: in the end she was cleared, but it is a hurt that will never heal, even after the family's joy at hannah's birth, a little girl that would be savannah's sister. >> i can't help but thinking, where would she be now, she'd beat the odds and talk to me and tell me that day she left me. she as so capable. i don't know where life would have taken her.

a little soul still making a science. that's "america tonight", tell us what you think. at "america tonight". talk to us on twitter or facebook. and come back. we'll have more of "america tonight" tomorrow. >> that make a difference. >> senator, we were hoping we could ask you some questions about your legal problems. >> that open your world. >> it could be very dangerous. >> i hear gunshots. >> the bullet came right there through the window. >> it absolutely is a crisis. >> real reporting. >> this...

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