These massive water projects enabled populations to live in numbers that are far beyond what they could ever normally support.

I stopped watering my lawn years ago. It turns brown in the dry season and quickly turns green when the rain comes.

Sometimes I curse the humidity on the east coast (where I live) but lately I’ve become much more appreciative of the fact that we have so much water. Our landscape is lush and green too. It makes me grateful for where I live and what I have.

Fossil records on trees were pulled and studied along the Colorado River. They were able to look back 15000 years. It showed that the river goes through dry and wet periods lasting 800 years on average. When these dams were built on the river back in the early 20th century the wet period was at its climax. The river is now only 100 years into its drying period, with possibly 700 years left to go. It could be centuries until water levels come back and the drought ends.

I was born, and spent the first 18 years of my life, in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Our water came from approximately 600 ft. deep wells. A lot of us took the water for granted when we were required by the administration of Atomic Energy Commission housing to maintain our lawns. Once housing became privatized, as well as the utilities, water bills went up about 400%. It took a shock like that to make residents cognizant of the preciousness of water resources.

"Why they are running out of water" a 5 year old could answer that question. Building mega-Cities in the middle of the desert that could barely support a handful of small Towns is why.

I was a propulsion engineer in the navy , my job was to maintain water system of fresh water form the oceans desalination systems

I lived in that area for quite some time. Water is available, people simply need to learn how to manage monsoon rains, use that to reforest and keep the water there. Look for the bio-swales being built near 'washes' and you'll see. (The vid is called "The canal that accidentally grew a forest in the Arizona desert".)

The Pueblo ruins were teaching the settlers a lesson they ignored at their own peril. This region cannot support large populations.

Ontario Canada here. With Lake Ontario near where I live, various tributaries, and the melting snow you don’t see a lot of houses (even high end neighborhoods) with front and backyard sprinkler systems. When I visited California, the sidewalk was awash with precious water everyday between afternoons and evenings. It’s like a waterpark.

The desert Southwest is an intrinsically limiting environment, even with a big river running through it. People in the area need to adapt to live sustainably with the resources they have, not the resources they were planning on. A desert is limiting in the same way as an island. We’d think the people in Hawaii or Fiji were crazy if they let immigrants move in unrestricted or allow farmers use as much water/land/anything as they wanted. The governments in desert environments need to adopt this island mindset too.

Good information. Glad to see someone calmly explaining the situation with out panicking.

Here in Guadalajara Mexico when we rebuilt an old house in the city we installed a 3000 liter (800 gallons) in ground rainwater tank. During our wet season the tank can fill from empty in a single day/night of rainfall. We use this water for our avocado tree all year round as well as plants, cleaning etc In an emergency we can filter and pump it to our 1000 liter gravity feed water tank on the roof. There is also a 5000 liter (1300 gallons) in ground water tank for the municipal water at the front of our house which is a reserve to be pumped to the roof tank in the case of loss of pressure to the street fed water supply. Our problem in Guadalajara is there is too much water falling in the wet season and nothing the rest of the year. Water storage (both macro and micro) when it rains will become the key. Desalination is only a stop gap solution for coastal areas.

I never hear about all the water/ground water used by water bottling companies like Nestlé and Sparketts, not only in the U.S, but around the world. There's a movie on Netflix about this subject, but I can't remember the name. They are essentially pumping our water and reselling to us at outrageous prices.

It's really sad our region in New Mexico is totally in a drought, Thank goodness for these last few months of monsoon it has helped us out a lot.

There are ways to pull water out of the air.... #1 is to save the water produced via air conditioning condensation. That can be a few gallons a day from a small window AC. You can get a gallon a day from your refrigerator, redirecting the defrost to a collection tank instead of the evaporation tray under the refrigerator. #2 is a "fog filter" to collect condensation (dew) in the mornings. You just need a place o put the filter media that will collect the moisture. #3 Peltier heat/cooling units can cause condensation and use little power, which could be generated by solar stored in batteries and set on timers to collect during the hours when it's typically most humid (near dawn) Rain catchment to tanks on property. This one the main expense is the tank(s) You need the roof anyway... just use a metal roof or you have to "first flush" a larger volume if using asphalt shingles. Part of the problem is the massive areas of concrete, asphalt and roof that cause increased runoff thus less soaking into the ground. Catch that and let it soak down into the aquifers that we've been pumping dry for generations... Get away from the green grass lawns. Those waste tremendous amounts of water just so the grass will grow so we can cut it to have it hauled off to landfills. Then buy fertilizer to replace the nutrients hauled away as grass clippings. Pure stupidity. We have much that we can do rapidly, cheaply...

80% of California's water goes to agriculture under decades old contracts. Agriculture accounts for less than 1% of state GDP. Meanwhile Southern California continues to build tens of thousands of new homes every year despite inadequate water supplies.

Maybe not having swimming pools everywhere in the desert, golfs, tennis court, almonds fields and such, and not washing our cars every week...might have been a good start? Maybe if we had lived as if we actually were living in a desert instead of ignoring it, might have avoided that problem ?

It's a problem that really boils down to excessive population for the available resources. Also, politically it breaks down into two factions - farmers and developers. Generally, the municipalities want endless development because subdivisions full of houses generate a lot more tax revenue than orchards or farm fields do. The rural areas also want the increased development for tax revenue, but are hesitant to anger the farmers that comprise the wealthiest of the population in rural agricultural counties. The developers claim, with some validity, that it is totally irresponsible of farmers to grow water intensive crops like citrus and cotton in the desert. On its face, that seems a reasonable argument. However, the response of the farmers is that they've been growing these crops in this area for over 75 years and it was never a problem until the cities allowed tens of millions of people to move into the desert and build houses, golf courses, and swimming pools. Both sides make a valid point.

Well done defining the problem. Looking forward to hearing the solutions contemplated.

It’s very likely Kansas and Nebraska will be in a water crisis for agriculture in the near future, as the aquifers underlying them are being rapidly depleted.

Update for anyone watching this as it was made a couple months ago. Lake Mead dropped to inactive pool (below 1050ft) on Thursday June 24th (1043.8 was the June 24th measurement). Mead did install impellers that can generate power down to 950ft a few years ago, but currently is operating at about 30% of total power generation capacity. Dead pool, where no water can flow out of the dam, is at 895ft. We have 149ft left before dead pool, and last year lost 26ft of water in Lake Mead, a number that is expected to accelerate as federal officials work to keep Lake Powell from hitting dead pool. Lake Powell is the dam above Lake Mead, and will not be releasing 480,000 acre feet (156,408,480,000 gallons) that in previous years it has released to Lake Mead. We have maybe five years before Mead hits dead pool unless something drastically and immediately changes. I'm happy to answer any questions that I can. I'm not a climate scientist, but live in Arizona and have been closely following our water

I'm just sitting here wondering when these states are gonna remember that fognets exist. Panicking about all the lakes and rivers drying up, yet weirdly enough I don't hear about ANY fog nets being set up. Legalizing rainwater collection across the board would help too. We CAN do something about this, we just AREN'T

The problem is because back in the 40s when farming was starting to get large, they put who knows hoe many miles of drain tile in the ground. The corps of engineers played a big roll. All the water that was supposed to go into the ground was redirected and went into drainage ditches through sediment ponds and into creaks, rivers. This happened all across the mid west- prime farm areas. In mn they cleared forests to make fields for crops. I've said this before and I'll keep saying it, Every time houmans try and control, manulipate the earth's weather, water, forests we mess it up.

If you want to help with the underground reservoirs being depleted and keeping more water on the land, bringing the beaver back along as much of the river as possible would be a good start.

The thing is Lake Mead was never meant to be a lake in the first place. It is a man made thing. It was meant to be part of the desert with a river passing through it. The south west is basically returning to what it originally was. A natural desert with a river passing through it. It was never meant to support so many people like it is right now.

I live in ca. The drought in the 80s was way worse then we had a decade of rain then started drying up again. A cycle almost

I find this fascinating because I live in a part of Canada that is now having an almost too wet summer, after having a dought that last couple summers.

When Hoover Dam was completed, it was designed to serve 4 million people! It is now serving close to 18 million people! Plus they talk about a drought, people forget, it is nearly all desert in the southwestern United States! Plus it is now used for irrigation too!

Western states take great pride and profit from growing crops in the desert and places that need flood irrigation to grow. This is where two thirds of the water goes. Which most of the water evaporates. And helps create rain in the Midwest and East. And the producers cry that drip irrigation would be labor intensive and thus expensive. But they prefer the income from these crops. Over the needs of residents.

I'd have liked to hear if there was any progress on desalting ocean water and using that.All and all it was a pretty good video.

I think about drought all the time. Thanks for making this video

In the 1800's John Wesley Powell, the explorer and proto climatologist,produced a sort of water map of the West.Based on his findings he strongly advised against over settlement and development there due to the limited water recources,but was hounded and derided for his pains by the railway barons and other related interests.Now the chickens have come home to roost and he has been vindicated long after his death it seems.See the article "How the West was Lost" by John F.Ross [Atlantic Magazine Sept. 10th 2018 issue]

I read some 40 years ago, a book called "The Cadillac Desert," that predicted everything that is going on now in the Southwest and in California. It stated back then, Mans Greed will cause drought and loss of aquifers for building of homes and shopping centers will catch up to the point of the land being unable to restore water to reservoirs.

Update it's been raining here in new Mexico for the last 6 weeks and it's so green only happens every 2 or 3 years.

Very Good Presentation. Thanks.

This is a good example of the dangers of unplanned growth. The Portland Metropolitan Complex avoided urban sprawl for a long time by tying up farmlands with a urban growth boundary. Moving that boundary is a very big deal and is not taken lightly. We are not in an unlimited water situation in Oregon as many seem to think.

One of the things I focus on in geography education and using GIS is water. Water quality water availability etc. It boggles my mind how little students are taught in this crucial topic from primary to university level. I am trying to change that and so thanks for all that you do as well.

Thank you for sharing..

great video Mr Crusher

I think we will see a decrease or slowing down of population growth in the South West as water becomes more regulated in the face of less and less water.

I'm in Southern California. If you saw what's going on around here you'd realize there's no water "shortage". In Palm Springs they're planning on new communities with water parks, golf courses, and water surfing parks. Here in the San Gorgonio Pass they recently authorized the building of 5000 new houses. That's on top of the 20,000 built in the last 10 years. That is just in this area. Just last week Orange County nixed a $1b water desalination plant that's been in the works for 20 years. It'll upset the local fish. (it would have supplied OC with 16% of it's water supply) In Imperial County there's thousands of acres of alfalfa being watered with pumped ground water so the alfalfa can be sent to Saudi Arabia to feed their prize horses. (it's called green water exports) So, until we start acting like water is a finite resource, there is no shortage.

That was cool to see Silver Falls in the video!

Northern Utah just had the wettest winter/spring on record, 2022-23. Potential flooding from melting snow is a threat.

As a resident of considerable time in AZ and CA. The water table having fell out from under my childhood home long ago. I can only say "plan on it".

I currently live in the southwest. I can't move for two years, when I finish school, but as soon as I finish school and start working, I plan on finding a job somewhere in the coastal PNW or great lakes region. Climate refugees are already a thing, and it will only get worse in the near future.

I drove thru New Mexico while on vacation in 1980, signs everywhere about water shortage. If you wanted water in a restaurant, you had to ask (signs on tables said won't serve glasses of water unless you ask). People in Texas have been suffering from droughts lasting yrs at a time, more seriously in last 20 to 30 years.

Great video.

"When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten and the last river poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money." Mähsette Kuiuab

A real possible problem with the lack of water. I started saving grey water to flush toilets and rain water, saved about 600 gallons for my garden vegetables, which will last me about 3 months, went to low water usage landscaping over 35 years ago which requires watering about once every 2 weeks during summer, once a month during spring and fall, zero during the winter.

Thank you for always putting together such a great informative program. I am now a subscriber. I would hate to see that happen because the southwest is so beautiful especially California where I’m from I now live in Oregon and yes, we have quite a bit of water we’re having a huge rain storm right now, but there is no comparison to living in beautiful sunny California. There is a lot to be lost living here. It’s not that great.

To answer the title of this video: "What if vegetables start growing in my mouth? if vegetables were to grow in my mouth, my mouth would no longer be a mouth, it would be a vegetable garden"

Gulf courses: California - 921, Arizona - 300, New Mexico - 88, Utah - 140, Colorado - 300. Which totals about 1700. Must be a major drought.

It is truly a sad situation. Even as early as 1990, when Fountain Hills, a Phoenix suburb, was developed there was talk of the need for better water management. This suburb is known for the World's Tallest Fountain, squirting almost 600 feet in height, in the largest most arid metropolitan area of the lower 48. A symbolic attempt to claim that the Phoenix residents had water to burn. There has been talk of conservation for 30 years but not embraced by the inhabitants. Attitude is the problem. Let me give you another example. In 2002 one of the Native American tribes in the Southwest asked the architectural firm that I worked at to submit a master plan for a new residential development. I was not involved in the project but all members of the company were invited to attend a presentation to the tribe. I decided to sit in the back of the meeting room that could accommodate 300. The tribe representatives were between me and the raised stage. The architect assigned to lead the proposal, had recently joined the company, relocated from a state in the mid-west. The PowerPoint showed the street layout and relation to the “Old Town” that had existed before arrival of the Mayflower. At the center of the development the architect planned a “Green Space” and actually was colored as green on the otherwise brown, black and white plan. Every time he said Green Space several tribe reps would whisper to each other. I did not intend to comment but felt the need to and raised my hand. It was my attempt, by example, to let the tribe members know that they could chime in anytime. The best that I could think to say in this touchy situation was “can we call it something other than Green Space?” To which the lead architect replied, “there has to be a Green Space, desert is so boring otherwise” in a matter of fact manner. I think you get the picture that he aspired to recreate Cincinnati’s Eden Park, or Chicago’s Portage Park but was limited by the reality of the budget. But, apparently, his dream. Also apparent, water was a very minor issue to the project team. As you might have guessed; for 1000 years this Native American old town did not have Green Space manicured lawn, nor fountains, nor sculptured hedges despite being founded on the banks of a river. That was not due to lack of budget, it was simply living with reality.

I grew up in rural New England, so wet weather is normal for me. Ive lived in Phoenix, the PNW, and southern Idaho, and the differences are incredible. The most water wasteful area I've seen is southern Idaho. Phoenix was hotter and dryer, but acted like it. In Idaho, though, you are expected to have a lush green lawn, a clean car, and all the agriculture just sucks down so much water.

I find it a bit ridiculous that they decided to grow so many crops in a desert. Using more water for crops then in other regions.

Having lived in Phoenix for a few years, King of the Hill was absolutely correct in stating "this city is a monument to Man's arrogance!"

Great video! At some point watering grass is going to have to become a thing of the past and something needs to happen with the countless golf courses that use millions of gallons of water. Our food production should take top priority but unfortunately it isn't with many farmers having to abandon planting crops. It just doesn't make sense when an orchard or farm is not permitted to get water but a golf course does.

I have never understood why huge numbers of people would move to a desert with an unreliable source of water.

Interesting times ahead indeed.

I'm originally from Michigan, and currently live in AZ. I was a kid when we moved here. I didn't want to move, as I love the water, and don't like landlocked states. Since my husband died, I'm seriously thinking of selling everything and moving back to Michigan. I can live with my cousin, who said I can share her house with her and her family, And a job shouldn't be too hard to find there. I'm less than 5 years away from retirement. (Jan Griffiths).

I actually was thinking of purchasing a condo in Phoenix but a few months ago I was reading about water shortages and think I'll hang out here in Ohio where everything is green for most of the year.

And in Germany the Rhine river, major shipping route on the continent, is so low it is only capable of supporting half the shipped raw materials & goods. The Jordan also drying out.

Best start running some huge desalination plants tomorrow! Ships use same technology as does space station! Store it back in every reservoir built to 'save' water!

When I was honorably discharged from the USAF in 1980 I was stationed at Alamogordo, NM and saw the writing on the wall. With such a short supply of water, the SW US was not a viable long term home. My wife and I moved to Idaho, and 42 years later, although we are in a drought we do get a relatively reliable supply of water here in Idaho.

good video. I disagree that the SW won't "run out" of water soon. Lake Mead will be dead pool in 4-6 years IMO. Lake Powell about the same. 12 of the 17 turbines at Lake Mead will shut down this year, prolly in late May or early June. Lake Powell will stop generating power no later than summer 2023, according to my projections.

I moved from California to Ohio for the very reasons you described. Thank you for this important call for preparation and planning.

As my mother always says What If's don't count. If you worry you wont ever achieve your goals or dreams. Proper planning prevents piss poor results. Life easy if you just put your heart in all you do, anything is possible

As someone who has been living in Arizona just 2 years, I have watched Lake Powell and Lake Mead levels drop to historic lows. There are people who have to haul water now.

That area of the country cannot support the population that it has, when it comes to water. There should only be 1/3rd the population (if that) in that region. But more and more people move to that area despite the warnings of several experts (who were laughed at) that said there would never be enough water. It isn’t because of climate change, it is due to to much usage.

I saw a documentary on this topic called 'Rango'. The lizard wins out in the end.

Lake Mead is filling up and as soon as it is full enough, the Glen Canyon Dam will stop releasing it's water and Lake Powell fill up as well. The last two years have had a lot of rain and snow, easing the drought conditions.

We live in the desert in the Palm Springs CA area. They talk about this on the TV all the time, but they are building a ice skating rink and a water park here, not to mention new housing projects that have lawns and flower beds. IF we have a water shortage, the govt isn't acting like it and all this in the DESERT. We are also told to conserve electricity, but they urge electric cars and approve new building projects that are big electricity users. YOU can't have it both ways, someone is lying to us.

The Dust Bowl, also known as “the Dirty Thirties,” started in 1930 and lasted for about a decade, but its long-term economic impacts on the region lingered much longer. Severe drought hit the Midwest and Southern Great Plains in 1930. Massive dust storms began in 1931.

Please talk more about Alaska's water!

Isn't it amazing that there was a guy that went out there and had a vision and he filled the 28-acre lake and heat pump water into it for what was it 3-months 24 hours a day he didn't seem to have a lack of water. He has a nice development with a huge lake now wonder if he still filling it up.

"What if the American Southwest runs dry?" Isn't that like asking "What if the Sahara gets covered in too much sand?

I remember a few years ago when California was in so much drought towns that had been flooded by artificial lakes were been seen again there was talk about the southwest getting water from the Great Lakes. The governor of Michigan said the only way they would be taking water from the Great Lakes was in buckets!

It is amazing how newbies do not understand that they cannot water a lawn using their well water. Their wells run dry. Except during drought years the natural desert grasses and flowering flora make a beautiful lawn area. We must be very careful how we use our water, period. From a born to it desert person.

I moved from Pittsburgh to Tucson in 2019. First thing I noticed was how water use was the same as back home. Regular flow faucets, toilets that waste water, rain water runoff etc... Crazy. We will be moving back East, for a number of reasons, with water scarcity being one of the concerns.

LA County already declared a water emergency in April. Lake Mead supplies 90% of Las Vegas's potable water & its level is dropping quickly.

I'm watching this as I lay in bed in Louisiana it's been raining for the past hour it will be raining for the next hour. When I first moved back to my hometown there was a period of time where it rained every day for 200 solid days. Never in my life did I ever see it rain that much here and then the very next year we are under hurricane threat seven times one hit a category 1 storm hit us.

Bring seawater to desert and evaporate, Capture the condensate and distribute. A works project of this magnitude would be helpful to economy . The brine left behind could be transported by train to colder regions and used for road salt ect.

I live in the state of Texas where there are a good number of secessionists. They fully believe Texas can be fully sustainable based on their oil reserves, this a state that has only one natural "lake",which is really a swamp. They fail to realize that there are plenty of proven, currently alternative energies to oil, but there are no alternatives to fresh water. Yet, my neighbors are running their sprinklers as per usual.

I still can't get over the fact they're growing cotton in Arizona.

I love your enthusiasm! The same people who think that a prayer is enough will definitely support science!

Anyone ever heard of The Yellowhouse Canyon project ? Mile high view of it was a diversion of the Mississippi River from Arkansas Oklahoma into West Texas Panhandle. The excess water that feeds the dead zone of the Gulf of Mexico would have been re diverted back up through the Arkansas and Red River(s) and some pipelines into a massive Reservoir that would started out as Yellowhouse Canyon. My understanding is that the Senators from the Corn Belt (Iowa Illinois Minnesota Nebraska Indiana and Ohio) killed it in DC. They didn't want Texas and Oklahoma raising as much Corn as up North. Yes of course... money!

looks like we got enough snow pack to catch up, the Gunlock reservoir is overflowing, Lake Mead is gonna be up.

I have lived in Phoenix for 30 years and looking to move back to NC soon. Along with lower water tables, the summers are getting hotter. That combination is going to cause some major migration changes. It's not if, it is when it is going to happen.

Texas and Oklahoma have been known to have recurring problems too

I recently learned that Arizona and California have leased tens of thousands of acres to a saudi company to grow alfalfa to feed their dairy cows in saudi arabia. In Arizona alone they are pumping enough water annually to supply 54,000 homes. And it's all free. All they pay is $25 per acre a year and can pump as much as they can completely unregulated.

Lake MI was losing water. My parents use to live across the road from it. Not sure where it sounds today?

Indeed. Cadillac desert is one of the foundational books on this topic.

Detroit & Michigan take all sorts of crap, from outsiders telling us how terrible it is to live here. Then the water runs out and you either want to steal Great Lakes water, or move here to use the water! Maybe some of the great lakes states should join Canada!

This is been known for 30 plus years now and now it's a huge problem

It is time for a serious discussion of the desalination process.

I am ready to become a climate refugee. I’ve watched the drought here for over 20 years; it won’t get better. Good video, but you could have mentioned the Central Arizona Project. Without that, we’d have run dry long ago. I’ve never felt putting millions of people into a desert was wise.

Amazing how mexico ( 130 mil) gets 10% but wyoming (0,5 mil) gets 14% whoever negotiated that deal for Wyoming did good.

If you're in the southwest your governments need to figure out how to turn ocean water into pottable water. Whatever you do, don't move east. It is crowded enough here.

They'd probably toss the agreements allowing companies to export the states water supplies and sell it as "spring water" 👌