07/09/2021

A Massive Water Recycling Proposal Could Help Ease Drought

Some Congressional leaders are pushing a plan to turn wastewater into pure water

Lake Mead, which provides water for 25 million people in the American West, has shrunk to 36 percent of its capacity. One rural California community has run out of water entirely after its well broke in early June. Fields are sitting fallow, as farmers sell their water allotments instead of growing crops, putting the nation’s food supply in peril.

As the West withers under extreme drought, legislators in the US House of Representatives have introduced HR 4099, a bill that would direct the Secretary of the Interior to create a program to fund $750 million worth of water recycling projects in the 17 western states through the year 2027. (The bill, which was introduced at the end of June, is currently before the House Committee on Natural Resources.)

"This is beginning to be our new normal—88 percent of the West is under some degree of drought," said Representative Susie Lee (D-Nevada), who introduced the bill. "Lake Mead is at the lowest level it has been at since the Hoover Dam was constructed. And the Colorado River has been in a drought for more than two decades."

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.