Part of the State Water Project, the California Aqueduct spans hundreds of miles, transferring water from northern watersheds to farms and cities in the south. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue

Drought’s Spillover Effect in the American West

The American West has been plumbed into a series of “mega-watersheds.”

On a map that might grace the walls of a high school classroom, the watersheds of the American West are distinct geographical features, hemmed in by foreboding plateaus and towering mountain ridges.

Look closer and those natural boundaries are less rigid. A sprawling network of pipelines and canals pierce mountains and cross deserts, linking many of the mighty rivers and smaller streams of the West. These “mega-watersheds” have redrawn the map, helping cities and farms to grow large and productive, but also becoming political flashpoints with steep environmental costs.

Southern California, for instance, is a region that has become a pivot point since it draws water from basins hundreds of miles away in Northern California and the Colorado River. 

Not every river in the West is linked and few regions are as networked as Southern California. But there are enough connections that the water supply consequences of the drying American West are not felt in isolation. They are exported to neighboring watersheds.

What’s Up With Water — June 14, 2022:

For the news you need to start the week, tune into “What’s Up With Water” fresh on Monday’s on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and SoundCloud.

Featured coverage from this week's episode of What's Up With Water looks at:

• In Bolivia, the rising price of gold is fueling a boom in illegal, small-scale mining – activity that is polluting rivers in the South American country. According to Reuters, government officials have been threatened and attacked when visiting illegal mining areas in Bolivia’s Amazon region.
• In the United States, nitrate problems are re-emerging in a Midwest farming hub, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch. For the first time in five years, the city of Des Moines had to restart equipment to remove nitrate from its drinking water.
• In Egypt, government ministers are planning to expand the country’s use of desalinated water to meet the demands of a fast-growing population. The highly water-stressed country aims to build 14 new facilities to raise desalination capacity by 50 percent.

This week, Circle of Blue reports on the Colorado River’s water crisis, and what happens if Glen Canyon Dam stops producing hydropower.

New homes rise from the post-fire rubble in Talent, Oregon. The Alameda Fire destroyed thousands of homes in Talent and nearby Phoenix in early September 2020. Photo © Brett Walton / Circle of Blue
 

Constant, Compounding Disasters Are Exhausting Emergency Response

Distractions, especially during the summer, are part of the job for emergency managers. Calamitous fires in California or other western states can erupt at any moment when the vegetation is so dry. 

Circle of Blue reported last year that the interval between emergencies is shortening, or in some cases disappearing altogether. It’s not just one fire. It’s several — at the same time. Or, it’s a fire and power shutoffs happening during a drought in a region that still hasn’t recovered from the last dry cycle.

The acceleration of disaster is repeating worldwide, in part because vulnerable people and developments are encroaching on hazardous terrain. Furthermore, a supercharged climate is churning up more powerful hurricanes, more punishing droughts, more oppressive heat waves — altogether more environmental and water-related risk.