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US States Issued Drinking Water Warning
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The Western U.S. is confronting a growing groundwater crisis exacerbated by factors such as rising temperatures and water demand. A legal expert is proposing multiple reforms to aid in the preservation of this essential resource.
Why It Matters
The U.S. Geological Survey notes that groundwater is the source of drinking water for about half of the total U.S. population and nearly all of the rural population.
What To Know
University of New Mexico law professor Warigia Bowman, who teaches water law, administrative law, natural resources and property, is suggesting that policymakers adopt stricter groundwater regulations. "We either make changes, or we run out of water. I would say the situation is dire, but it's fixable," Bowman said, in an interview published by "If we don't make changes by the end of the century, places will run out of groundwater. While not every aquifer will run out, many will."
Bowman's recommendations, published in the Ohio State University Law Journal, center on four reforms intended to help preserve groundwater.
A groundwater well stands in the Phoenix suburbs on June 9, 2023, in Queen Creek, Arizona.
A groundwater well stands in the Phoenix suburbs on June 9, 2023, in Queen Creek, she urges refinement of the doctrine of "safe yield," which refers to the maximum volume of water that can be extracted from an aquifer without harmful impacts, per
Bowman recommended redefining safe yield to include specific timeframes, making groundwater management more effective. She argued that vague terms like "over a period of time" lack clarity and should be replaced with defined intervals.
"Timescales should be developed to connect measurement, planning, and reevaluation," Bowman wrote.
"An annual time frame would be an excellent start, and longer time frames such as five years, a decade, or twenty-five years would allow water managers and scientists time to evaluate successful outcomes in aquifer management and adjust for changes in precipitation or miscalculations in withdrawal estimates."
Second, she calls for the regulation of domestic and livestock wells, which in most western states are not always required to be metered.
"The idea was that back in the day, people weren't going to use that much water, but in the absence of accurate measurement, water use from domestic and livestock wells could be overdrawn," she said, according to
"It's possible someone could have one of these wells and use far more water than the Office of the State Engineer allows, and with an absence of meters, there's no way to enforce it."
Third, she advocates for comprehensive metering of water withdrawals.
"Monitoring, goal-setting, and auditing are critical components of any successful aquifer management program," she wrote in her research.
"Both the federal and state government should give farmers incentives to meter. State water management bodies should use the data generated by metering to implement active monitoring of groundwater withdrawals throughout entire states."
Lastly, Bowman highlighted that some states manage groundwater with a patchwork of rules—strict in certain areas but lax elsewhere—resulting in a multi-tiered system. Instead, Bowman argued, states should adopt more uniform and stringent regulations that apply consistently across all regions.
What People Are Saying
"Maybe farmers don't like metering, but they will like metering more than they like having no water," Bowman said, as reported by She also emphasized the need for behavioral change among producers: "A lot of land in the western United States maybe shouldn't be farmed."
What Happens Next
A separate, recent study found that increasing wastewater recycling to 40 percent in the Colorado River Basin could save around 900,000 acre-feet of water each year, which would be enough to supply nearly two million homes.
The states that depend upon the Colorado River have also been in talks to establish new water-sharing agreements by 2026.
