Sunday’s headline in the Washington Post last week read, “Mexico City’s water ‘Day Zero’ may come even for the wealthiest residents. The city of 22 million residents gets its water from a dry system. Some fear it will run out of water by the end of the month. Last January, Raquel Campos received a message from her condo’s building manager saying the city hadn’t delivered water to its cistern. Taps in her upscale home went dry four days later. When it went on, days later, the pressure was much lower. To cover the cost of having water delivered, her monthly condo expenses increased by thirty percent. 

This could happen in the United States as well. No…I made a mistake. This is happening in the United States. Jackson, Mississippi; Baltimore, Maryland; Houston, Texas; and Flint, Michigan, are among the cities facing a similar crisis. Many communities lack the resources to maintain their water infrastructure, septic system, and wastewater treatment. As aquifers and streams dry up, Latino, Black, and Indigenous communities and those in low-income and rural areas are disproportionately affected. Being forced to rely on bottled water costs an estimated $1,350 per person yearly. My novel, The Water Factor, is set on a Native American reservation and in Ethiopia to show vivid examples of what is occurring worldwide.

Can you imagine what would happen if the Colorado River went completely dry? After supporting life for over six million years, it will affect the entire ecosystem, forcing animals that drink from the river and eat the plants that grow by it to leave. It will put an end to inspiring river trips through the Grand Canyon. The Biden administration is trying to combat the unsustainable use by dedicating 15 billion dollars to Arizona, California, Nevada, and several Native American tribes in exchange for cutting their water consumption by the end of 2036. 

Do you wonder what is happening in your backyard? The following are a few examples, but every state is affected.

1. Oregon: Water shortages and groundwater problems have been chronic issues in Central Oregon for over a century. Soaring regional growth over the past two decades will make the challenges even more difficult to resolve. As this region’s population increases, so will the number of straws pulling on a finite amount of water resources.
2. Michigan: Michigan is lucky to be surrounded by four great lakes, over 11,000 inland lakes, and 63 major watersheds. However, the state faces microplastic pollution, contaminated drinking water, PFAS contamination, algae blooms in Lake Erie, Failing septic systems, and erosion. 
3. New York City: NYC’s water supply is unfiltered, and an aggressive watershed protection program is needed to protect it at its source. The quality of its drinking water depends on it. The most significant threats to NYC are sprawl, aging infrastructure with lead pipes, and pharmaceuticals in its waters.  Water shortages due to drought occasionally affect New York City because the reservoirs supplying the city are upstate.
4. North Carolina: North Carolina has historically been considered a water-rich state. However, the state has faced water shortages recently due to rapid population growth, drought, and aquifer degradation. Experts predict that if present growth and water use trends continue, North Carolinians will find it increasingly difficult to satisfy their water needs in the coming decades.
5. Louisiana: Big and small communities in south Louisiana, including the state’s two largest metro areas, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, are grappling with saltwater intrusion into underground aquifers and critical surface water sources like the Mississippi River. Drinking water for millions of people is threatened. 
6. Kentucky: Surface- and groundwater supplies in Kentucky are susceptible to pollution from both natural and manmade sources. Naturally occurring substances such as iron, manganese, barium, selenium, hydrogen sulfide, and salt may be present at undesirable levels.  
7. California: California’s relationship with water continues to generate controversy. The most essential issues center on distributing and sharing the resource — getting the water to the right place at the right time — while not harming the environment and aquatic species. Distribution is coupled with conflicts between competing interests over available supplies. The water demand is highest during dry summer when little natural precipitation or snowmelt occurs. California’s capricious climate also leads to extended periods of drought and major floods.The water demand is highest during dry summer when little natural precipitation or snowmelt occurs. California’s capricious climate also leads to extended periods of drought and major floods. Though the situation improved in 2023, Lake Mead and Lake Powell reservoirs remain at 36% capacity.
8. North Dakota: North Dakota has 37 documented cases of groundwater quality degradation. About two-thirds of those cases involve gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, or lubricating oil contamination from leakage or spills. Most of the degradation can be  corrected by simple means, such as excavating contaminated earth materials.
9. Illinois: Many Illinois rivers, streams, and lakes are contaminated with E. coli bacteria; contain fish that have been exposed to mercury and PCBs; exhibit low oxygen levels; and contain excessive phosphorus, manganese, siltation, suspended solids, and algae, all of which negatively impact aquatic life.
10. Texas: Texas is prone to periods of drought that impact water availability for agricultural, industrial, and municipal uses that exacerbate existing water challenges. Another hot, dry summer may push parts of Texas to the brink. The Rio Grande hasn’t flowed consistently into the Gulf of Mexico since the early 2000s. And, because the Colorado River is running dry, Water releases to coastal wetlands have been halted, affecting bays and estuaries. In Corpus Christi, a major refining and export hub for Texas shale oil and gas, city authorities have imposed water use restrictions on residents. At the same time, they let the region’s largest industrial water consumers operate unabated.

THE WATER FACTOR: A RIGHTFULLY MINE NOVEL. It may have all the bells and whistles of a thriller set in the future, but it is based on factual events that have already occurred. The Water Factor will have you turning pages as you learn what happened when water became a commodity and was no longer a right. If you don’t see it in your local bookstore yet, ask them to order it.

A 2024 Firebird International Award Winner For Best Dystopian Novel: Available at Barnes and Noble  and Amazon