From Research Into Policy

Lake Mead on the Colorado River. As of today, the lake is 70% empty due to overuse of available water supplies; more than 70% of water consumed goes to irrigating crops. Photo by Brian Richter

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Our research made it onto the front page of the New York Times on Monday. Elena Shao’s article about the use of the Colorado River’s water includes a wonderful graphic based on the research we published in our 2020 Nature Sustainability paper.

As scientists driven by a desire to see our work making a difference in the world, publicity such as a front page New York Times story is very gratifying. But even more gratifying for me is the privilege of working with teams of intelligent, skilled, and committed researchers that function beautifully as a collaborative team.

All of us hope that the information and analysis we’re developing can inform needed policy changes, business decisions, farm productivity, and consumer preferences. We hope that our work can help advance the movement towards water security for all people and other life on earth.

We have lots of new, exciting work underway. One of our next papers will focus on potential solutions to the water shortage crises that are affecting farmers and cities in the western US. We’re exploring ways to greatly reduce the volume of water used in irrigated agriculture by changing the mix of crops being produced in farming regions impacted by water scarcity, and to do so in a way that sustains or improves farmer incomes.

Stay tuned.