The federal government has told states to agree on urgent water cuts to ensure dams can keep generating power. Researchers say reductions once considered “unthinkable” may be necessary in the long term.
The situation highlights how precarious water has become for this city of almost 22,000 in western New Mexico and offers a peek inside the complicated efforts required to manage water in the 21st century.
The court will decide whether Georgia must cap its water use from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin and allow more water to flow downstream to Florida.
The power politics of the Colorado River have long pitted families like Paul Bruchez’s against big cities. Under pressure from climate change, they might be finding a path out.
