Is Southern California Prepared to Avoid a ‘Day Zero’ Water Crisis?

Over the last century, Southern California has grown and thrived by accessing water from faraway sources including the Colorado River, the Eastern Sierra’s streams and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Massive aqueducts transport water through deserts, farmlands and mountains to sustain 19 million people across six counties.

But these traditional sources of water are projected to become less reliable as global warming shrinks the West’s mountain snowpack and unleashes more intense droughts.