0:00:00.370,0:00:02.700
Water is a crucial [br]building block for life,

0:00:02.700,0:00:05.170
for farming, for food, and for showers.

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Often water comes from far away.

0:00:07.832,0:00:10.434
For example,[br]over half of Southern California's water

0:00:10.434,0:00:12.276
is pumped out of[br]the Colorado River.

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

0:00:15.115,0:00:17.429
to be used in cities and farms

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But as rainfall and[br]temperatures change,

0:00:19.997,0:00:21.621
scientists are seeing a [br]megadrought

0:00:21.621,0:00:23.302
emerging the American West.

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And much of that long-term drought

0:00:25.366,0:00:26.822
is centered right over[br]the Colorado River.

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Which means giant cities[br]like L.A.

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and rural farms alike[br]could see a strain

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on their water supply.

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

0:00:34.680,0:00:36.451
and find out what lessons we[br]can learn

0:00:36.451,0:00:38.426
from people who've[br]lived in the Southwest

0:00:38.426,0:00:39.854
for thousands of years.

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A drainage basin is[br]an area

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where precipitation[br]collects

0:00:48.198,0:00:50.418
and runs into a[br]particular body of water.

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The basin in the[br]Colorado River

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spans seven States and[br]two countries.

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40 million people[br]count on it's water

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but what happens when rivers dry up

0:00:59.004,0:01:01.270
and the water you're counting on [br]doesn't come.

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To understand,[br]I first asked

0:01:03.218,0:01:05.988
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

0:01:10.026,0:01:12.115
is the most severe[br]drought

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since gauges were[br]installed on the river

0:01:14.745,0:01:17.320
in 1906 in some places.

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The flow is down[br]about 20%.

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Drought is usually[br]defined

0:01:22.129,0:01:24.164
as a period of [br]abnormally low rainfall

0:01:24.164,0:01:25.698
leading to a shortage[br]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[br]rain is down,

0:01:30.199,0:01:32.731
that doesn't fully [br]account for the low water levels

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We now actually have a new[br]term for this

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it's a hot drought.

0:01:36.263,0:01:39.436
So higher temperatures dry out the earth.

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

0:01:41.889,0:01:45.140
lead to greater evaporation[br]in all its forms.

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

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

0:01:51.713,0:01:53.197
the process of evaporation

0:01:53.197,0:01:55.401
takes more water away[br]from rivers, lakes

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and snow-capped mountains.

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This helps explain why river flow

0:01:59.102,0:02:00.928
in the Colorado basin is down 20%

0:02:00.928,0:02:03.408
despite precipitation only[br]being down by 5%.

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And droughts do end,

0:02:05.584,0:02:07.253
but according to many scientists

0:02:07.253,0:02:10.113
waiting for rain in this case[br]is probably not a good idea.

0:02:10.285,0:02:12.675
The term "drought" implies

0:02:12.675,0:02:14.800
some kind of return[br]to normal at some point.

0:02:14.900,0:02:17.273
Drought implies temporary,

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and most scientists nowadays [br]have started talking

0:02:19.675,0:02:22.549
about the aridification of the West,

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

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(car engine roaring)

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Few people understand

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the threat of drought[br]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[br]canals in the Colorado basin.

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This represents liquid gold.

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This is our water supply right here.

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We take it out, 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,

0:02:57.468,0:02:58.839
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,

0:03:09.840,0:03:12.263
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 out of[br]reach of the plants' roots.

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

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

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

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

0:03:38.165,0:03:40.440
but Nancy told us she's not been able

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to get the permits needed

0:03:41.973,0:03:44.012
to change the irrigation[br]style 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.

0:04:02.284,0:04:04.136
In 2019 water in Lake Mead,

0:04:04.136,0:04:06.778
the nation's largest[br]reservoir, dropped so low

0:04:06.778,0:04:08.269
it triggered the first cutbacks

0:04:08.269,0:04:10.440
in water allocations ever in the basin.

0:04:10.653,0:04:12.407
Pinal County farmers were the first

0:04:12.407,0:04:13.800
to have their water reduced.

0:04:13.800,0:04:17.315
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

0:04:31.095,0:04:33.605
American water use has actually gone down.

0:04:33.605,0:04:37.614
Even in growing American[br]cities in the South West,

0:04:38.094,0:04:40.793
total consumption has gone down

0:04:40.793,0:04:43.624
despite pretty big[br]increases in population.

0:04:43.624,0:04:46.232
But worldwide irrigated agriculture

0:04:46.232,0:04:51.108
uses upwards of 70% of water in rivers

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

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That's partially due

0:04:57.803,0:04:59.512
to household water conservation efforts,

0:04:59.512,0:05:02.660
but it's mainly due to the way[br]cities and homes use water.

0:05:02.660,0:05:05.428
When you shower, wash dishes[br]or even flush the toilet,

0:05:05.428,0:05:08.264
that water is treated and[br]returned to surface or groundwater

0:05:08.264,0:05:10.451
rather than evaporating.

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The same goes for some industrial uses.

0:05:12.953,0:05:12.953
But the largest opportunity and challenge

0:05:12.953,0:05:16.953
to reduce water use is in[br]the agricultural sector.

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That's because water used for farming

0:05:19.304,0:05:21.057
either becomes part of the growing plants

0:05:21.057,0:05:22.737
or it's lost to evaporation,

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

0:05:25.221,0:05:26.541
for a very long time.

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Scientists say this is the[br]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 and have[br]grown food through it all.

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

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

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

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in the drying Colorado basin.

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The Hopi's been known to[br]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.

0:06:02.361,0:06:05.591
This is my blue corn,[br]they're planted here.

0:06:05.591,0:06:07.115
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[br]is you clear off an area.

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

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get maybe eight or 10 kernels of 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 dry soil.

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And that's dry farming.

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His garden is planted[br]in a low lying area

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

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

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They're planted far apart to[br]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 of moisture

0:06:49.470,0:06:50.850
in the ground, see that?

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

0:06:56.250,0:06:59.070
Amazingly Max uses seeds for[br]his own farming consumption

0:06:59.107,0:07:00.899
that produces crops in[br]what seems like dust

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with no irrigation.

0:07:02.968,0:07:04.908
He's never watered this field.

0:07:06.319,0:07:08.268
We have seeds that are being passed on

0:07:08.340,0:07:10.130
from generation to generation.

0:07:10.152,0:07:13.012
So they're adapted to this dry climate.

0:07:13.402,0:07:15.084
The corn's been with the Hopi

0:07:15.084,0:07:16.670
at least several thousand years.

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I think the lesson to learn

0:07:18.763,0:07:21.003
is that you have to live[br]within your environment.

0:07:21.003,0:07:22.896
And I think that's how the natives

0:07:22.896,0:07:25.155
have survived in these areas[br]because they were sustainable.

0:07:25.155,0:07:27.495
And we know this country.

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Shifting towards crops appropriate for

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and adapted to their environment

0:07:34.732,0:07:37.153
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.

0:07:41.716,0:07:44.939
On paper, a shift from feed[br]crops and cattle makes sense.

0:07:44.939,0:07:46.490
But if we wanna adapt

0:07:46.490,0:07:48.426
to our warming climate[br]in an equitable way,

0:07:48.426,0:07:49.831
we can't write off farmers

0:07:49.831,0:07:51.140
like Nancy and the families

0:07:51.140,0:07:52.610
that have fed us for generations.

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We would like to continue farming.

0:07:54.591,0:07:56.454
We don't plan on giving up this farm.

0:07:56.454,0:07:58.684
We are looking into alternatives,

0:07:58.684,0:08:00.486
we're looking into alternative crops,

0:08:00.493,0:08:03.716
we're looking at water[br]conservation irrigation techniques.

0:08:03.716,0:08:05.996
Alfalfa takes seven to nine acre feet

0:08:06.000,0:08:07.422
of water a year to grow it.

0:08:07.442,0:08:10.638
Olives would take about one[br]and a half acre feet of water.

0:08:10.638,0:08:12.698
But if we were to get into say olives,

0:08:12.698,0:08:14.454
there'd be a lot of soil preparation.

0:08:14.454,0:08:16.460
So it costs us a lot money to get started.

0:08:16.534,0:08:19.017
But the question is, can[br]we come together as a country

0:08:19.017,0:08:20.957
and implement techniques[br]to reduce the strain

0:08:20.972,0:08:23.567
on our water supply before[br]they're even more shortages?

0:08:23.917,0:08:25.728
We need to be ready

0:08:25.728,0:08:27.666
for some really big changes coming at us

0:08:27.666,0:08:31.026
that are frankly outside[br]of our comprehension.

0:08:31.026,0:08:35.496
This is how we make the[br]best out of a bad situation

0:08:35.496,0:08:37.222
and stand by those

0:08:37.302,0:08:41.852
who end up facing the biggest[br]changes and challenges.

0:08:41.933,0:08:42.946
And while we focus

0:08:42.946,0:08:44.909
on the American Southwest in this episode,

0:08:44.909,0:08:47.388
drought does affect almost[br]every part of the country.

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So practicing water conservation

0:08:49.599,0:08:51.666
as a part of your daily[br]life can help you prepare

0:08:51.666,0:08:53.854
for when water supplies[br]run low in your region.

0:08:53.923,0:08:56.263
Some of the most effective[br]things you can do today

0:08:56.263,0:08:57.271
are not that hard.

0:08:57.382,0:08:59.502
For example, never leave a faucet running

0:08:59.502,0:09:00.625
when it's not being used,

0:09:00.625,0:09:02.683
like when brushing your[br]teeth or washing dishes.

0:09:02.733,0:09:04.626
Make sure to fix leaky faucets

0:09:04.626,0:09:06.801
and choose energy and[br]water efficient appliances.

0:09:06.801,0:09:08.367
If you want to get more involved,

0:09:08.367,0:09:10.237
you can place a brick in[br]the tank of your toilet

0:09:10.237,0:09:11.964
so it uses less water for each flush,

0:09:11.964,0:09:14.574
or convert your lawn to[br]a beautiful landscape

0:09:14.574,0:09:15.777
that doesn't need irrigation.

0:09:15.777,0:09:18.328
Or even install a[br]rainwater catchment system.

0:09:19.334,0:09:21.481
Of course, there's another[br]thing we can all do,

0:09:21.481,0:09:22.479
and that's to fight

0:09:22.479,0:09:24.826
the underlying cause of this[br]drought, climate change.

0:09:24.943,0:09:26.852
The future of this drought is unwritten

0:09:26.852,0:09:28.720
and the less warming we create

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

0:09:30.718,0:09:32.735
So check out the excellent show, Hot Mess

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

0:09:34.585,0:09:36.160
And of course, subscribe

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

0:09:38.460,0:10:00.734
(soft music)