Drought is upon the American West — with major implications for human health, biodiversity, agriculture, food security, supply chains, cities, land use, and the most very basic of human rights.
This is a story now only worsened by a climate emergency, which has brought higher temperatures, more extreme conditions, and heightened risks.
Fires, droughts, power outages, competition over water, and ecosystem collapse all result. Western droughts are becoming longer, more intense, and more frequent.
But as water scarcity sweeps the West, many see this as the imperative moment for rapid innovation in agriculture, technology, nature-based systems, and policy to manage dwindling supplies.
Thirsty sprawl confronts water scarcity in arizona
At Phoenix’s Far Edge, a Housing Boom Grasps for Water
Brackish Groundwater Is No Easy Water Solution for Arizona
Some of Arizona’s Most Valuable Water Could Soon Hit the Market
The Biggest Dry: Arizona
At Peak of Its Wealth and Influence, Arizona’s Desert Civilization Confronts A Reckoning Over Water
Unsafe Yield
Arizona’s Future Water Shock
The colorado river
Colorado River Water Use in Three States Drops to 40-Year Low
As the Colorado River declines, one fundamental question hangs over the Southwest’s most important waterway: can its people and industries slash their water use, thus aligning their water…
