On the Water Front

Selected tag(s): drought

An innovative water sharing program in India helps improve farmer livelihoods

By Gopal Penny and Leah Beaulac / Published: October 31, 2025

An aerial view of a tractor on a field in India.

An aerial view of fields in Rayalaseema. Photo credit: Manram Collective

Vanya Mehta of WELL Labs co-authored this blog.

In a semi-arid region in southwest Andhra Pradesh, low but highly variable rainfall has made groundwater a critical lifeline for farmers.

But prolonged droughts and more borewell drilling have worsened groundwater depletion, severely impacting agrarian communities. To reduce competitive well drilling and assist farmers without wells in the region, the Watershed Support Services and Activities Network (WASSAN) launched the Groundwater Collectivization Programme. The initiative helps farmers form water collectives to share groundwater through formal agreements.

A new study of the Groundwater Collectivization Programme by researchers from EDF and WELL Labs revealed some encouraging results, including a slight increase in farm profits and higher yields during the monsoon season.

Posted in Agriculture, Drought, Groundwater, India / Also tagged agriculture, climate, groundwater, groundwater management, India, water conservation, water use | Authors: gpenny, lbeaulac / Comments are closed

Here’s how land repurposing is beginning to transform strained communities and ecosystems in California

By Anna Schiller / Published: April 2, 2024

Satellite image of California's Central Valley

California’s sprawling Central Valley is confronting declining groundwater levels and increasing ‘climate whiplash’ between drought and flood.

Next time you find yourself looking up driving directions on your phone, scroll over to central California and zoom out a bit. Turn on the satellite layer. What you’ll see is a mindboggling patchwork. A massive brown and green checkerboard, cut up in rectangles, sliced by highways, besieged by a ring of arid foothills. This is California’s famed and troubled Central Valley — an agricultural powerhouse that’s increasingly associated with headlines about disappearing groundwater and growing waves of flood and drought. Filled with sharp lines, it’s not a landscape one would immediately associate with collaboration and transformation. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture, California, Community, Drought, Groundwater, Land Repurposing, Uncategorized / Also tagged agriculture, california drought, california land repurposing, california water, california water funding, california water manager, community resilience, groundwater, groundwater management, land repurposing, SGMA, water conservation, water use | Authors: aschiller / Leave a comment

Revisiting a centuries-old approach to farming that embraces water scarcity.

By afajardoanstine / Published: December 7, 2023

As discussions at COP28 wrestle with climate impacts on global food and water security, we hear from a Hopi farmer on his thriving practice of dry farming and his hopes for shared learning in Dubai.

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The arid climate of the Hopi reservation in northeastern Arizona receives a mere 8.5 inches of annual rainfall. For perspective, the yearly United States average is 30 inches. Despite this severe aridity, for over 3,000 years, the Hopi people have stewarded an extraordinary agricultural tradition centered on dry farming.

Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson is an Indigenous Resiliency Specialist at the University of Arizona and a leading practitioner of Hopi dry farming — a form of agriculture that eschews irrigation in regions with limited water moisture. As a 250th-generation Hopi dry farmer, his ongoing traditional practices are a testament to the power of cultural values and the potential of climate-adaptive farming. These ongoing Hopi farming practices defy modern notions of crop needs and vulnerability in areas with limited irrigation and water supply. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture, Arizona, Colorado River, Community / Also tagged agriculture, Arizona, arizona drought, arizona groundwater, colorado river, community resilience, Dry Farming, groundwater, Indigenous, water conservation, water use | Authors: afajardoanstine / Leave a comment

Water is a high-level priority at COP 28, we need to look to ground-level users for solutions

By Ann Hayden / Published: November 30, 2023

Water has finally reached the highest levels of global climate negotiations. The path to a sustainable freshwater future, however, lies with ground-level users. At COP 28, EDF is elevating their voices, their needs and the approaches they find most useful.

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While greenhouse gases drive climate change, many of its impacts are inherently liquid. Whether through drought, flood, sea-level rise, or contamination, water increasingly forms the turbulent core of the climate crisis.

Over the past year, this basic reality was finally acknowledged at the global planning table. Thanks to a strong push from its Egyptian hosts, last year’s edition of the main UN climate conference, COP 27, made water a central theme. The cover decision — the summation of the conference’s key agreements — featured water and food for the first time. The decision acknowledged the central role of water in countering climate impacts and called for water-related targets in national climate planning.

Posted in Agriculture, Community, COP, Drought, Groundwater, Land Repurposing / Also tagged agriculture, colorado river, COP, COP28, Food Systems, groundwater, groundwater management, water conservation, water security, water use | Authors: ahayden / Leave a comment

Learning from shared scarcity: the Colorado River, the Yellow River and the world

By Brian Jackson and Yiwei Gan / Published: October 30, 2023

One of the largest rivers in the world struggles to reach the ocean. Spread across a huge slice of a continent, its basin supports millions. Yet the weight of its work to irrigate and power booming farms and cities in an increasingly arid zone is straining the river to a breaking point. For many working in the western water space, this describes the Colorado. A river whose over-work and over-allocation, despite its fundamental role in sustaining life for half a continent, seems in many ways singular.

Posted in Agriculture, Colorado River, Community, Drought, Groundwater / Also tagged china yellow river, colorado river, groundwater, water security, water use, yellow river | Authors: bjackson, ygan / Leave a comment

Hispanic Heritage Month: meet local leaders helping communities address key water issues

By afajardoanstine / Published: October 12, 2023

As Hispanic Heritage Month ends, we celebrate our Hispanic Water Leadership Institute alumni making a difference in their communities.

Nearly 20% of the United States identifies as Hispanic. The largest minority group in the country is also the largest group disproportionately impacted by contaminated groundwater. This is due to a lack of resources and widespread inequities in funding, policies, investment in water infrastructure and education.

EDF’s Water Leadership Institute annually hosts a cohort of leaders working tirelessly to address these inequities. These remarkable leaders are mobilizing their communities and advocating for change by securing funding, advocating for policy shifts, and engaging their community members on local water challenges.

Posted in Agriculture, Arizona, California, Community, Drought, Groundwater, Uncategorized / Also tagged california drought, california water, community, community resilience, groundwater, water conservation, water leadership institute, water security, water use | Authors: afajardoanstine / Leave a comment