The West without Water: What Can Past Droughts Tell Us About Tomorrow?

Lake Powell, 2006

In the Southwestern United States, Lake Powell, the largest reservoir on the Colorado River, is at 44 percent of capacity.

John Wesley Powell, 1869

This stamp commemorates John Wesley Powell's 1869 expedition down the Colorado River. He remarked on the arid conditions of the west in his Report on the Land of the Arid Regions of the United States.

A dust storm approaches a town in Stratford, Texas in this photograph.

Dust Bowl, 1930s

Drought during the late 1920s gave way to the Dust Bowl, one of the United States' worst climate tragedies. A dust storm approaches a town in Stratford, Texas in this photograph.

The Colorado River

A study during the early 1940s produced a 600-year record of Colorado River flow and revealed several sustained periods of low water flow.

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde

The famed Cliff Palace housed the ancient Pueblo Peoples of Mesa Verde.

West Walker River, Sierra Nevada Range

An ancient tree stump submerged in the West Walker River, eastern Sierra Nevada. (Photo courtesy of D. J. DePaolo.)

Giant Sequoia Trunk Section

A cut section of a Giant Sequoia trunk from Tuolumne Grove, Yosemite National Park, California, showing AD dates of fires (photo courtesy of Thomas Swetnam, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona).

Pueblo Cliff Dwelling, Colorado

Ancient pueblo cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde, southwestern Colorado. (Photo taken by B. Lynn Ingram)

Montezuma’s Castle

Montezuma’s Castle, a cliff dwelling occupied by the Sinagua, located just north of Camp Verde in central Arizona. (Photo by B. Lynn Ingram.)

Here John Powell stands with a Paiute Native American during the Colorado expedition circa 1871.

John Wesley Powell

In 1869, John Powell became the first white man to lead an expedition down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon. Here he stands with a Paiute Native American during the Colorado expedition circa 1871.

Mono Lake, California

Mono Lake, showing calcium carbonate “tufa tower” formations that originally formed beneath the lake but are now exposed after the water level dropped. The eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada range is shown in the background. (Photo by D. J. DePaolo.)

Lake Powell, 2009

Lake Powell, in 2009, showing a white calcium carbonate “bathtub ring” exposed after a decade of drought lowered the level of the reservoir to 60 percent of its capacity. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.)

Donner Lake, California

Donner Lake, Sierra Nevada Range, California (Photo taken by B. Lynn Ingram).

Sacramento Valley, California

Frances Malamud-Roam, B. Lynn Ingram, and Christina Brady coring a small oxbow lake in the Sacramento Valley, California. (Photo taken by Anders Noren, University of Minnesota, LaCore curator.)