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Southwest Braces for Water Cutbacks as Drought Deepens Along the Colorado River

/in , , /by /Arizona Republicby Ian James

Unrelenting drought and years of rising temperatures due to climate change are pushing the long-overallocated Colorado River into new territory, setting the stage for the largest mandatory water cutbacks to date.

Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir on the river, has declined dramatically over the past two decades and now stands at just 40% of its full capacity. This summer, it’s projected to fall to the lowest levels since it was filled in the 1930s following the construction of Hoover Dam.

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California is on the Brink of Drought – Again. Is it Ready?

/in , , /by /The Guardian by Maanvi Singh

California is at the edge of another protracted drought, just a few years after one of the worst dry spells in state history left poor and rural communities without well water, triggered major water restrictions in cities, forced farmers to idle their fields, killed millions of trees, and fueled devastating megafires.

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Nevada Farmers and Conservationists Balk at ‘Water Banking’

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Sam Metz

Rural water users are panicking over a proposal to create a market for the sale and purchase of water rights in Nevada, unconvinced by arguments that the concept would encourage conservation. Lawmakers on Monday weighed whether so-called “water banking” would be preferable to prevailing water law doctrines that govern surface and groundwater rights disputes in the driest state in the U.S.

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Western Rivers Face Pinch as Another Dry Year Takes Shape

/in , /by /AP Newsby Susan Montoya Bryan

As several states in the American West face intense drought, it’s shaping up to be a very difficult year for New Mexico farmers because of limited irrigation supplies, with some saying conditions haven’t been this dire since the 1950s. Snowpack and precipitation are below average, spring runoff is trailing, and New Mexico comes in last among nearly a dozen Western states for dismal reservoir storage levels.

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Megadrought: ‘Climate Change Starting to Hammer Home’

/in , /by /E&E Newsby Jeremy P. Jacobs

California is heading for a “critically dry year” as drought spreads across the American West, creating a slow-moving crisis for the Biden administration and state officials.

The Golden State’s annual survey of Sierra Nevada snowpack, upon which it relies for as much as a third of its water, was only 59% of normal, officials warned last week, underscoring that the state didn’t get the “March miracle” of rain and snow it had hoped for.

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More Water Spending Sought for West in Infrastructure Bill

/in , /by /Western Farm Press

As drought worsens in the West, a coalition of more than 200 farm and water organizations from 15 states that has been pushing to fix the region’s crumbling canals and reservoirs is complaining that President Joe Biden’s new infrastructure proposal doesn’t provide enough funding for above- or below-ground storage.

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SNWA Wants Nevada Legislature to Consider Legislation to Remove All Unused Turf Throughout the Las Vegas Valley

/in , /by /8 News Now Las Vegasby Nikki Bowers

Some big moves are coming from the Southern Nevada Water Authority. The water company wants all “unused turf” (grass) in the Las Vegas valley remove

The agency sent the following tweet expressing the legislation it would like to see proposed on Monday night.

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California Dreaming: Farmers, Scientists Sustainably Getting by with Less Water

/in , /by /ABC 7by Tim Sarquis

Water covers 71% of the earth’s surface, but only about 3% percent of it is fresh water, making it the planet’s most precious resource.

But what do you do when water is in danger of going dry?

California’s Central Valley is no stranger to drought, and because of that, farmers and scientists are joining forces to figure out how to get by with less.

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This is Water Infrastructure

/in , , /by /Water & Wastes Digest Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The water industry has a visibility problem. Often the only time that water professionals are contacted is when things have gone wrong.

Calls come in when a pipe bursts. Angry emails from a local homeowners’ association detail how sewers are backing up in basements. Lawsuits are filed when contamination is found in drinking water.

If you followed the news, you would think there are only problems and few successes with water infrastructure in the U.S. But that’s not the case. Part of the visibility problem with water infrastructure is that the industry does such a good job of making things work. In most situations things are not falling apart. Contamination is not an issue. Sewage backups are solved or eliminated, and people spend their game day blissfully unaware of the infrastructure keeping their finished basement dry.

These are successes we tell ourselves within our bubble, but they aren’t told to a wider audience. It is time to change that.

There is beauty and art in the engineering of these systems. Whether it is an array of aerators for a new mixing tank, the reflection of the sunrise in an open-air clarifier, or the organized jumble of purple pipe at a water reclamation facility, water infrastructure is not invisible. It’s right there.

Below is a growing and updated list of examples of water infrastructure throughout the U.S. Tag @WWDmag or @BCrossen on Twitter with your pictures of your infrastructure to be included in this ever-evolving and growing list. Or send an email to  with the subject line “This is water infrastructure” with your location, facility name and what you admire about your local infrastructure.

A Water & Wastes Digest story said the water industry has a visibility problem with infrastructure. The magazine article featured this San Diego County Water Authority tweet, among others, on April 2, 2021.

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Column: Drought is Upon Us. California’s Senate Leader has a Plan to Keep it from Becoming a Crisis

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby George Skelton

California’s big reservoirs are about half empty. We’re heading into another drought. But Sacramento’s vault is overflowing while Washington is pumping in more dollars. Here’s an idea: Spend some windfall money on no-brainer, quickie public works projects to help us confront the drought and prepare for an unstable climate future. Credit state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego). It’s her idea.

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