Water Talk

By Sam Caldwell

Ever since people settled in the dry landscapes of the western United States, water has been in short supply— a problem that is likely to grow more severe as climate change brings more frequent and longer droughts. The water problem almost certainly will be exacerbated by population growth, as many western states are the fastest growing in the country. One of the biggest concerns is over-pumping and mismanagement of groundwater for agricultural and municipal uses. Water levels in the natural underground storage tanks known as aquifers have dropped so low that an increasing number of states are passing new laws to regulate groundwater use and management. On the heels of a four-year drought, California passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014, the most recent legislation of its kind. To find out more about the groundwater issue, we spoke with Laura Condon, a water expert and professor of civil engineering at Syracuse University.

Photo by Laura Demott