Seeking Relief From Drought, Navajo Turn to NASA
On the Navajo Nation, access to drinking water is limited. Over 40 percent of homes lack running water. The community is hit by frequent, pervasive drought. WWAO is developing a new drought tool that, with the help of satellite data, will enable Navajo water managers to hone in on drought severity and better manage the water they have.
Better Ways to Promote Urban Water Conservation
Reducing water use in cities and suburbs is key for helping communities get through droughts. The Public Policy Institute of California discusses how to optimize urban water conservation.
Whiplash weather: Learning From California’s Deadly Storms
How can communities better prepare for the dramatic swings between flood and drought that the western U.S. is experiencing?
Reaching New Levels in Groundwater Monitoring
As regions around the world face record-breaking droughts, scientists are using seismology to track groundwater levels, showing that well-managed pumping strategies have a big impact.
NASA Images Hone in on California’s Severe Drought
California’s reservoirs are rapidly drying up and the water level in Shasta Lake — the largest reservoir in the state — has dipped to about 35% of its capacity. The L.A. Times spoke to WWAO about how the drought looks from space.
NASA Strengthens Our Resilience to Drought
In the face of severe west-U.S. drought, NASA has launched a new page highlighting its eyes on the drought, which are helping track and monitor the ongoing drought, predict how much water will be available, and improve how we use the water we have.
California Reservoirs Reflect Deepening Drought
Four years after California emerged from a severe multi-year drought, the state’s precipitation and lake levels are among their worst since the 1970s. The deepening drought is seen in satellite images of the state’s two largest reservoirs.
Western Soils And Plants Are Parched
For the second year in a row, drought has overtaken much of the U.S. from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast. Our Crop-CASMA soil moisture data portal, jointly developed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reflects the dry times.
2020 Was Warmest Year on Record
2020 was a rough year for planet Earth, and NASA found it was the hottest on record. Our warming planet fanned the flames of extreme wildfires, drought and hurricanes.
The Drying U.S. West
A serious drought has flared up across half of the United States, with about a third of the country suffering from extreme or exceptional drought. This familiar story has been playing out for the past two decades.