Narrator and Kansas City Star Columnist, C.W. Gusewelle says, "We decided to tell the story in a frame of seasons - seasons of the natural world, and seasons of lives."

In fact, the story begins with one of the first seasons of the Ozarks, an ancient time when the region was a magnificent seabed of sixty foot sharks and predatory fish. Then it proceeds -- touching on the first native peoples, the early pioneers, and other settlers who depended on the region's rivers and timber for their livelihood.

WATER & FIRE also examines the way present-day Ozarkers are using their natural resources, and observes activities reflective of the season -- hunting and gigging for sucker fish in autumn; running the foxes in winter; and amidst the rebirth of spring, battling the flames that continue to color the Ozarks landscape.