The Future Is Drying Up

Populations continue to flock to the US West, despite shrinking water reserves. This dynamic, combined with falling water levels in lakes and diminishing flows in rivers, leaves cities and states scrambling to find innovative ways to secure freshwater. Constructing a pipeline goes quickly, but water security rests on the uncertainty surrounding prolonged droughts and the effects of climate change. Cultural adjustment has not kept pace with desertification. Property owners could replace grass with gravel and inefficient irrigation techniques by water-conserving systems. Jon Gertner and the water authority officers he refers to in this New York Times article conclude that “the region will become a topography of crisis and perhaps catastrophe,” with deep, wide-ranging effects on economics, energy use and migration. Securing water could be the defining issue of cities and states in the American West throughout the 21st century. The implications are too drastic to ignore. Being proactive addressing water is not an option, but an urgent need. – YaleGlobal