The western United States is in an unprecedented drought and things could get worse, a lot worse.
"That was the one thing I took away from Lynn's presentation," said Anne Castle during the last session of the Spring Runoff Conference at Utah State University.
Castle, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s former assistant secretary for water and science, joined a full auditorium in the Eccles Conference Center on April 1 to hear Dr. Lynn Ingram speak during common hour.
Ingram, a geography and earth and planetary science professor at the University of California Berkeley, presented on the historical hydrologic conditions in California as well as the current state of the west and where its future is heading.
The Quinney College of Natural Resources and the Spring Runoff Conference hosted Ingram as their keynote speaker during USU's Natural Resources Week.
"Seventy percent of the region is in some form of drought," Ingram said. "We really do need to start planning for more water scarcity."
In addition to a decrease in water levels, Ingram also warned of severe flood events, more intense dry seasons, a larger occurence of wildfires, an increase in dust levels and a rise in water conflicts between regions.
Keeping with the idea that past trends often predict future events, Ingram emphasized the importance of taking action now.
"There are things we can do," Ingram said. She advised pricing water to reflect its environmental cost and challenged the audience to reduce their personal water footprint. "We really have to start valuing water more."
Ingram's co-written book "The West Without Water: What Past Floods, Droughts and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us About Tomorrow" outlines the history of climate and water resources in the western United States.
More information can be found on her UC Berkeley Research profile.
