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California’s water system is considered to be one of the most complex in the world. Thousands of miles of canals snake through Central California’s agricultural fields, transporting water from the state’s intricate network of dams and reservoirs to feed the thirsty almonds, strawberries and grapes (among other crops) that cover sprawling fields. Most Californians only glance at this system from a passing highway, remarking at its many miles of efficient uniformity. But soon, these waterways may start to look a little different.

Near Hickman, California, just outside Modesto, a 110-foot-wide grid of solar panels now tops a section of canal, arching over the gently flowing water. Solar projects have long been a crucial piece of the state’s movement to clean energy, and these panels are part of a new project that’s hoping to do far more than just generate electricity. Dubbed Project Nexus, the $20 million state-funded initiative hopes to better understand whether these installations can be an even more efficient approach to solar energy.

The Colorado River’s massive reservoirs are now so depleted that another dry year could send them plunging to dangerously low levels, a group of prominent scholars warns in a new analysis.

The researchers are urging the Trump administration to intervene and impose substantial cutbacks in water use across the seven states that rely on the river — California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

For more than a century, PG&E’s Potter Valley Project has funneled water from one Northern California river to another. Now, the century-old system has become the center of a political firestorm, cast by the Trump administration as a battle of “fish over people.”

Earlier this summer, PG&E submitted its final proposal to federal regulators: Dismantle the project’s two dams, drain its reservoir and retire the diversion tunnel that has long carried Eel River water into the Russian River watershed. The company would replace the infrastructure with a smaller facility that sharply curtails diversions in order to restore the Eel River’s struggling salmon populations. Supporters along the Eel see a long, overdue chance to undo generations of ecological damage. On the Russian River side, critics warn of heightened wildfire danger, worsening water shortages and severe economic strain for farms and communities that rely on the supply.

Water is becoming a scarce resource as Texas continues to grow, and it’s prompting concerns among state officials and industry leaders over what happens when the next drought occurs.

The regional economy is expanding, but growth trends are beginning to collide with stark realities about natural resources that are already strained.