Are Water Resources Keeping Up with U.S. Economic Needs?

Fall, Cheikh; Hilgemann, Christian A.; Nath, Ishan

Journal Article

Are Water Resources Keeping Up with U.S. Economic Needs?

Abstract: Access to water is necessary to sustain human civilization and agricultural production. Recent analysis finds that most of U.S. land area, economic activity, and agricultural production are in regions with stable to positive trends in local water availability. This provides reassuring news about overall U.S. vulnerability to water resource depletion. However, some Western and Southwestern regions are facing serious water risks that scientists expect to become more severe over time, suggesting that efforts to alleviate this concern should have a regional focus.

Keywords: Water-supply; freshwater scarcity; agriculture;