{"id":1336,"date":"2026-03-20T22:22:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T22:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/waterfront\/?p=1336"},"modified":"2026-03-21T22:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T22:00:32","slug":"western-us-water-bankruptcy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/waterfront\/2026\/03\/20\/western-us-water-bankruptcy\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the western U.S. experiencing a \u201cwater bankruptcy?\u201d\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Because March 22 was designated World Water Day<\/a> by the United Nations, I thought it made sense to revisit the U.N.\u2019s recent report, \u201cGlobal Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era<\/a>,\u201d which I read during a trip to Dakar for planning meetings for the U.N. Water Conference in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With much of the EDF Water Team\u2019s work concentrated in the western United States, I inevitably read the report through a western water lens. What struck me most is that some parts of the West have already begun adopting the report\u2019s recommendations, such as California with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act<\/a> (SGMA), while others seem to be avoiding them, such as the Colorado River Basin.

Despite its dire diagnosis, the report was still inspiring with its calls for transformative institutional frameworks and a new global water agenda, using the 2026 and 2028 U.N. Water Conferences as milestones to reset how water is governed worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I agree that many water systems have crossed critical tipping points that require fundamentally different governance to prevent further collapse. But I couldn\u2019t help thinking that waiting until 2028 to take meaningful action on a global water agenda is too late. Communities are already seeing groundwater wells go dry. Water levels in Lake Powell<\/a> are falling to perilously low levels that could threaten energy generation and water deliveries. Corpus Christi<\/a>, Texas, could run out of water next year. In India<\/a>, where EDF also works, farmers have committed suicide under the crushing pressure of debt associated with drilling deeper bore wells. It\u2019s clear that we need a new actionable global water agenda now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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