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.