Climate change promises to have a very big impact on water
supplies in the United States as well as around the world. A
recent study commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC), a leading environmental group, and carried out
by the consulting firm Tetra Tech found that one out of three
counties across the contiguous U.S. should brace for water
shortages by mid-century as a result of human induced climate
change. The group found that 400 of these 1,100 or so counties
will face “extremely high risks of water shortages.” According
to Tetra Tech’s analysis, parts of Arizona, Arkansas,
California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas will
be hardest hit by warming-related water shortages. The
agriculturally focused Great Plains and arid Southwest are at
highest risk of increasing water demand outstripping fast
dwindling supplies. While the mechanisms behind this predicted
dwindling of water supplies is complex, key factors includ