News, Articles and Interviews

News briefs and articles about water footprints, water use and availability, as well as interviews with key people in the fields of water footprints and water use.

Post-UN Water Conference, When You Think About Your Next Meal, Think About Water

April 28, 2023

The UN Water Conference under-emphasized the centrality of water to the resilience of other systems, including food production. Originally published at FoodPrint. In late March 2023, delegates from more than 170 countries gathered for the first major United Nations-convened water conference in 46 years. As monumental as this conference was to people focused on water […]

Global Freshwater Demand Will Exceed Supply by 2030

April 28, 2023

Global freshwater demand is growing and by the end of this decade will far exceed supply. The demand is driven by agriculture, electricity production, industrial processes like mining and manufacturing of consumer goods. Global freshwater demand is rising and will outpace supply by 2030 if governments don’t make significant changes, according to a new report […]

Global water crisis as urgent as climate change, say investors to governments.

March 16, 2023

The global water crisis is just as urgent as the climate crisis and investors want their leaders to start paying attention. That’s why 30 investors sent an open letter to their governments asking for more water risk accountability ahead of the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York. The global water crisis is increasing as […]

Arizona Groundwater is Being Used to Grow Alfalfa for Saudi Dairy Cows

March 15, 2023

Arizona groundwater that is unregulated by the state is being extracted for growing alfalfa crops that will go to feed dairy cows in Saudi Arabia. Does it matter that the water is essentially leaving the country or that the water is being extracted for alfalfa crops in the first place? Arizona groundwater is a precious […]

Alliance for Water Efficiency to States on Water Use Policies: “Do Better.”

February 27, 2023

Alliance for Water Efficiency evaluated state water use policies for the third time in 10 years. The latest was released in January 2023, and showed, overall, there was little-to-no meaningful progress since the last evaluation in 2017. AWE Evaluates How US Water Conservation and Efficiency Policies Can Help or Hinder Water Use Efforts The Alliance […]

Avocado Water Consumption Draws Environmental Complaints

February 22, 2023

Avocado water consumption is large and increasing in Mexico, as growth of avocado fields is unregulated. A Mexican citizen recently filed an anonymous complaint with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation about the “ecocide” being caused by that growth. Most production occurs in the state of Michoacán where (as of 2017) approximately 50 percent of the […]

Western Snowpack Not Always a Predictor of Water Supplies

February 8, 2023

Western snowpack at its peak might not always be the best indicator of the coming summer’s water supplies. Western snowpack measurements, typically taken on April 1st each year, are used as a predictor of the year’s water resources. A new study from the Desert Research Institute concludes that the predictions might not hold up anymore, […]

Aquifer Recharge is an Important Tool for Managing Increasingly Scarce Water Resources

January 25, 2023

Aquifer recharge – storing surface water in aquifers for later use – may become a key strategy for managing increasingly scarce water resources during dry years. Communities in California and Arizona have been doing it for decades. Aquifer recharge – storing water in aquifers for later use during dry years – has been used for […]

Google Data Center Water Use in the US Revealed To Be a Lot.

January 20, 2023

Google data center water use – once a closely held secret – was revealed last fall. In 2021 they used 3.3 billion gallons of water in the US alone, and another almost 1 billion globally. Google data centers use water, and a lot of it, because they use a lot of electricity to make all […]