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Water Conservation
As climate change heightens the risk of intense drought periods, a new framework can help scientists better understand the interconnected causes and effects of drought.
Eos
The Biden administration released its preliminary report on a plan to conserve 30 percent of the nation's lands and waters by 2030, one big, ambitious component of the administration's climate plans.
The Washington Post
Arizona will lose one-fifth of its water allotment from the Colorado River in 2022 as cuts from the river's Drought Contingency Plan take effect.
Arizona Republic
Despite the region's best efforts to conserve water, there's still a lot of grass in the Las Vegas that no one ever walks or plays on. That could change soon.
Associated Press
Regulation and incentivization helped cities in the Western United States keep water usage and population growth on opposite trend lines.
KNAU NPR
States in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River will contribute more water in order to keep reservoirs from reaching critically low levels.
azcentral.com
The city says water conservation programs and customer cutbacks have resulted in a drop in water usage.
Albuquerque Journal
New agreements and the first cutbacks in water usage signal the start of concerted efforts keep the river and reservoirs from dropping to dangerous levels.
Arizona Republic
Arizona has excelled at storing water in preparation for future droughts. The challenge now is how cities will access that water when they need it.
Arizona Daily Star
Las Vegas home and business owners can now receive $3 for every square foot of lawn they replace with less water-intensive landscaping.
Las Vegas Review Journal
Cheap water flows freely to the golf courses of St. George, Utah, but all the new residents mean it’s going to have to increase supply or reduce demand—or both.
CityLab
A report from a coalition of nonprofits recommends, among other restrictions, allowing outdoor watering only twice per week.
The Texas Tribune
This is a story about green building practices, conservation, and rainwater capture—not desalinization.
News Deeply
Recognizing the ongoing drought's severity, Sacramento is set to adopt a new statewide conservation plan. But some say the regulations don't place enough pressure on California's agricultural sector.
KPCC
Even as the Golden State has a wetter fall, California's water leaders have launched a new tool to leverage information technology and available information to support decisions around local water reliability.
The Planning Report
Creating adaptive, sustainable communities may require rethinking some planning basics.
Denver Business Journal
L. A. company Turf Terminators promised low impact lawns in exchange for city rebates, but delivered shoddy work and hot rocks.
Bloomberg
When water policy and land use planning operate in separate spheres, it's more difficult to design for efficient resource use. Better communication is needed in the drought-stricken southwest.
Next City
Pricing through tiered levels (i.e., charging more for customers using higher volumes of water), will be difficult, if not impossible, thanks to the ruling of a California appeals court on April 20.
The California Report
Recent data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that the country is using less water even as its population grows.
United States Geological Survey
