Scientists predict water stress in the West will increase dramatically in the coming decades, as climate change increase evaporation rates, shifts rainfall patterns, and impacts snowpacks in complex ways.
A 2019 study in the transdiciplinary journal Earth’s Future pointed out that the Central Rocky Mountains, Great Basin, Southwest and California are all likely to face extreme water scarcity in the 21st century, given population and climate change models. More worryingly, it noted that a continuation of the decades-long trend of reductions in per‐capita water withdrawal rates, “are essential but insufficient to avoid impending shortages.” Instream flow reduction and ag-to-urban water transfers will become increasingly necessary to satisfy demand.
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Louis Wertz 