Fresh water is a fundamental resource, integral to all ecological and societal activities, including food and energy production, transportation, waste disposal, industrial development, and human health. Yet fresh water resources are unevenly and irregularly distributed, and some regions of the world are extremely water-short.
The years 1987 to 1992 comprised the second driest period in California's recorded climate history.
Since 1987, the State of California has been in the grip of a severe drought. water availability throughout the State has been far lower than normal for each of the last five years when measured in any of a variety of ways: total precipitation runoff, groundwater overdraft, or reservoir storage.
Across the United States, coastal communities are grappling with crumbling infrastructure, flooded businesses, and overflowing sewers as a result of climate change-induced sea-level rise.
