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Water is a crucial[br]building block for life,

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for farming, for food, and for showers.

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Often water comes from far away.

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For example,[br]over half of Southern California's water

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is pumped out of the Colorado River.

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It is then transported up[br]and over a mountain range

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to be used in cities and farms.

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But as rainfall[br]and temperatures change,

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scientists are seeing[br]a megadrought

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emerging in the American West.

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And much of that long-term drought

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is centered right over the Colorado River.

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Which means giant cities like L.A.[br]and rural farms alike

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could see a strain on their water supply.

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In this episode, we'll learn[br]why this drought is so bad

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and find out what lessons[br]we can learn

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from people who have[br]lived in the Southwest

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for thousands of years.

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A drainage basin is an area

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where precipitations collects[br]and runs into a particular body of water.

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The basin in the Colorado River

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spans seven States and two countries.

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40 million people count on it's water.

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But what happens when rivers dry up

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and the water you're counting on[br]doesn't come?

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To understand, I first asked

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water and drought scientist,[br]Brad Udall, what's going on.

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In 2000, a drought began[br]that now 20 years later

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is the most severe drought

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since gauges were installed on the river[br]in 1906 in some places.

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The flow is down about 20%.

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Drought is usually defined

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as a period of abnormally low rainfall

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leading to a shortage of water.

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But Brad told me[br]that this drought is a bit different.

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That's because while rain is down,

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that doesn't fully account[br]for the low water levels.

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We now actually have a new term for this:

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It's a hot drought.

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So higher temperatures dry out the earth.

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And what we're finding is[br]that higher temperatures

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lead to greater evaporation[br]in all its forms.

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And that evaporation[br]is the cause of this decline in flow.

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In other words, as temperatures[br]increase over time,

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the process of evaporation[br]takes more water away

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from rivers, lakes,[br]and snow-capped mountains.

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This helps explain why river flow[br]in the Colorado basin is down 20%

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despite precipitation[br]only being down by 5%.

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And droughts do end,

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but according to many scientists

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waiting for rain in this case[br]is probably not a good idea.

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The term "drought" implies

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some kind of return[br]to normal at some point.

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Drought implies temporary,

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and most scientists nowadays[br]have started talking

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about the aridification of the West,

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meaning a more permanent move[br]to a dry state.

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(car engine roaring)

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Few people understand[br]the threat of drought

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better than Nancy Caywood.

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She's a fifth generation[br]farmer in Pinal County

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where water either comes[br]from the Colorado River

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through the Central Arizona Project canals

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or from other rivers and canals[br]in the Colorado basin.

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This represents liquid gold.

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This is out water supply right here.

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We take it out,[br]there's a gate right there,

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and it goes down a little lateral canal

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that takes it right to our farm.

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I'm gonna open up this gate,

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we have the gate open,

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we'll open four of them,[br]allow the water to flow in.

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We have about 135 acres of alfalfa.

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This is an example of flood irrigation,

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one of the oldest and most[br]common irrigation methods

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which distributes water over the soil

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by allowing it to flow[br]downhill with gravity.

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There's a beautiful simplicity to it,

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but it's actually the least[br]efficient way to irrigate

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as much of the water[br]either evaporates away

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or seeps into the soil[br]out of reach of the plants' roots.

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And on top of that,[br]alfalfa is a very thirsty crop,

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which means the beef[br]that comes from the cattle it feeds

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is the highest water use food[br]commonly available.

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Drip and sprinkler irrigation[br]can be much more efficient,

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but Nancy told us she's not been able

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to get the permits needed

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to change the irrigation style[br]on the farm.

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And the Caywood alfalfa[br]fields are in good company.

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60% of farmland in the Colorado basin

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is used to grow feed crops.

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Combine all that demand,[br]and here in Pinal County

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is where the drought hits home.

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The last time the reservoir[br]was full was in 1992.

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One year, we had nothing[br]planted on this farm at all.

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In 2019 water in Lake Mead,

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the nation's largest[br]reservoir, dropped so low

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it triggered the first cutbacks

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in water allocations ever in the basin.

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Pinal County farmers were the first

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to have their water reduced.

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Fields lay fallow, prepped[br]and ready, but unplanted.

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This is a fallow field,

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and we just didn't have[br]enough water to plant it.

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We have 120 acres of fallow land.

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Good news here is, since about 1980

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American water use has actually gone down.

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Even in growing American[br]cities in the South West,

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total consumption has gone down

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despite pretty big increases[br]in population.

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But worldwide irrigated agriculture

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uses upward of 70% of water in rivers

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and municipalities use[br]much, much less, 20% or less.

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That's partially due

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to household water conservation efforts,

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but it's mainly due to the way[br]cities and homes use water.

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When you shower, wash dishes[br]or even flush the toilet,

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that water is treated and returned[br]to surface or groundwater

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rather than evaporating.

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The same goes for some industrial uses.

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But the largest opportunity and challenge

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to reduce water use[br]is in the agricultural sector.

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That's because water used for farming

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either becomes part of the growing plants

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or it's lost to evaporation,

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meaning it doesn't return[br]to the hydrologic cycle

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for a very long time.

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Scientists say this is[br]the worst drought in 1200 years,

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but the Hopi you have lived in this area

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for over 2000 years[br]and have grown food through it all.

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We met up with Max Taylor,[br]a Hopi Water Resources technician

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to find out if lessons[br]from one of the oldest communities

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in the United States[br]can be applied to modern life

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in the drying Colorado basin.

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The Hopi's been known[br]to use the least amount of water

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than people throughout[br]the whole United States.

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It's just because we live in the desert,

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here we are more aware[br]of how much you use.

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And so the use is very little.

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So we're down at my field.

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This is my blue corn,[br]they're planted here.

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All of these are dry farmed.

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I don't do any irrigation.

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And the technique we use is[br]you clear off an area.

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You'll dig a hole down[br]about maybe eight to 10 inches deep,

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get maybe eight or ten kernels or corn

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and toss in there.

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The wet moisture that you've taken up,

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you push them back in,

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then you cover it with the dry soil.

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And that's dry farming.

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His garden is planted in a low lying area

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to collect the little moisture[br]that falls each year.

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And his crops are[br]extremely adapted to the region.

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They're planted far apart[br]to avoid competition for water,

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and they grow very deep roots[br]that tap into groundwater.

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Right now we're in September.

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You can still feel a little bit[br]of moisture in the ground,

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see that?

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Not much, but just enough[br]that it's still keeping them going.

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Amazingly Max uses seeds[br]for his own farming consumption

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that produces crops[br]in what seems like dust

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with no irrigation.

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He's never watered this field.

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We have seeds that are being passed on[br]from generation to generation.

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So they're adapted to this dry climate.

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The corn's been with the Hopi[br]at least several thousand years.

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I think the lesson to learn

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is that you have to live[br]within your environment.

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And I think that's how the natives[br]have survived in these areas

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because they were sustainable.

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And we know this country.

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Shifting towards crops appropriate for

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and adapted to their environment

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provides a vast opportunity[br]for water conservation.

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That shift can happen[br]on farms or in cities

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when we choose to eat foods[br]that need less water to grow.

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On paper, a shift from feed[br]crops and cattle makes sense.

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But if we want to adapt

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to our warming climate[br]in an equitable way,

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we can't write off farmers[br]like Nancy and the families

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that have fed us for generations.

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We would like to continue farming.

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We don't plan on giving up this farm.

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We are looking into alternatives,

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we're looking into alternative crops,

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we're looking at water conservation[br]irrigation techniques.

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Alfalfa takes seven to nine acre feet[br]of water a year to grow it.

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Olives would take about[br]one and a half acre feet of water.

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But if we were to get into, say, olives,

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there'd be a lot of soil preparation.

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So it costs us a lot money to get started.

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But the question is,[br]can we come together as a country

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and implement techniques[br]to reduce the strain

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on our water supply[br]before there are even more shortages?

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We need to be ready

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for some really big changes coming at us

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that are frankly[br]outside of our comprehension.

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This is how we make the best[br]out of a bad situation

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and stand by those

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who end up facing[br]the biggest changes and challenges.

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And while we focus

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on the American Southwest in this episode,

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drought does affect[br]almost every part of the country.

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So practicing water conservation

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as a part of your daily life[br]can help you prepare

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for when water supplies[br]run low in your region.

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Some of the most effective[br]things you can do today

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are not that hard.

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For example, never leave a faucet running[br]when it's not being used,

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like when brushing your teeth[br]or washing dishes.

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Make sure to fix leaky faucets

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and choose energy-[br]and water-efficient appliances.

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If you want to get more involved

0:09:08.357,0:09:10.107
you can place a brick[br]in the tank of

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your toilet so it uses less water

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for each flush, or convert your[br]lawn to a beautiful

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landscape that doesn't need

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irrigation. Or even install a[br]rainwater catchment system.

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Of course, there's another[br]thing we can all do,

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and that's to fight the underlying cause[br]of this drought, climate change.

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The future of this drought is unwritten,

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and the less warming we create,

0:09:28.720,0:09:30.718
the brighter our water future will be.

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So check out the excellent show, Hot Mess,

0:09:32.735,0:09:34.585
for more ideas about what can be done.

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And of course, subscribe

0:09:36.160,0:09:38.460
to keep up with all of our[br]episodes of Weathered.

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(soft music)