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Comment and Environment

We can't engineer our way out of the water crisis in the Southwest US

Ever since Arizona was first colonised, politicians and entrepeneurs have sold residents the idea that human ingenuity can craft a solution to water shortfalls. It can't, argues Natalie Koch

By Natalie Koch

1 March 2023

�鶹��ý. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine. — Michelle D’urbano

SEVEN states in the Southwest US are legally allowed to take water from the Colorado river: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. But with the once-mighty river now running at historic lows, the states were given a to voluntarily agree to dramatic cuts in their use. On 31 January, they . Meanwhile, the low river flow has already slashed the power output of the iconic Hoover dam – once able to produce 2080 megawatts of hydropower, its generation has been .

Overuse and climate change have reduced…

Article amended on 10 March 2023

We clarified the former output of the Hoover dam.

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