Water shortages, which used to be limited to the dry western states, are now a problem throughout the U.S. Even regions that once seemed to have limitless supplies of water are facing predictions of shortages within a few years and are imposing water restrictions on residents.

As our water supply strains under the constantly increasing demands generated by population growth, ground water is being pumped faster than it is being replenished. Underground aquifers, the source of about 60 percent of the U.S.'s fresh water, are being depleted, and surface water in lakes and rivers is endangered by our increasing population demands.  Many towns are halting development because of a lack of affordable fresh water.

U.S. Geological Survey associate director Robert M. Hirsch says that some parts of the country are depleting water that has been around since the Ice Age. Several major Southwest cities, such as El Paso, San Antonio, and Albuquerque, face water crises in ten to 20 years.

Because immigration is responsible for two-thirds of U.S. population growth, it plays a key role in our growing water crisis.

As immigration adds more than one million people to our population each year, demands for water increase drastically.  And with immigration set to add tens of millions of additional people to our population by 2050, the problem will only get worse.

In addition to its impact on water supply, immigration-driven population growth also means greater water pollution.  Thirty-four percent of American coastal waters cannot support aquatic life and 33 percent are considered unacceptable for human use, according to a recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency.  Of 1,444 costal beaches examined nationwide, 370 have been closed or issued a contamination advisory at least once in 1999.[1]  

Around the United States

According to California water officials, population growth is outrunning its water supply.  They predict that California will be short between 2.4 million and 6 million acre-feet of water (an acre-foot is about enough water to supply two typical families for a year) by 2020.[2]  Every newcomer to the state adds a demand of about 140 gallons of water every day to the already depleted supply.[3]  

Even in the suburbs around notoriously wet Seattle, demand for water is outstripping supply, raising the likelihood of shortages within 15 to 20 years. Even if all current conservation efforts work as expected, population growth means demand will exceed supply by five percent by 2020.[4]

Water is already a scarce resource in Texas and the increased demand generated by population growth is exacerbating the problem. By 2010, over ten percent of the water needs in urban areas will not be met during times of water shortages.[5] El Paso, San Antonio, and Albuquerque could run out of water in ten to 20 years.[6]  

Although Florida has hundreds of lakes and wetlands, sits atop enormous underground aquifers, and receives more than 50 inches of rainfall a year, it is facing serious water supply problems.[7]  Water use is forecast to increase 30 percent between 1995 and 2020 as the state's population increases.  Central Florida will run out of water in five years unless population growth slows or new water sources are discovered, and the area's water management district warns that its rivers, lakes, and streams will begin to dry up permanently.[8]  The water shortage is so severe in parts of the state that people have been ordered to appear in court for violating water rationing standards.  

Rapid development in Atlanta is responsible for sending huge amounts of polluted runoff directly into streams and rivers. In Atlanta, 57 billion to 133 billion gallons of tainted water flows from paved areas directly into surface waters each year.[9]

In Kansas, parts of the High Plains aquifer will be used up within the next 25 years, and vast areas of land will have no usable groundwater in the next 50 to 100 years, according to the Kansas Geological Survey.[10]  In northeast Kansas, the water shortage is so severe that state officials are considering building a pipeline to the Missouri River--but most of the water in the river is already spoken for by other users.

In Idaho, population growth means that the region's water demand is expected to nearly double by 2025. The major water supplier to the Boise area says it will have trouble supplying water to Southeast Boise within two years.

Parts of six counties bordering Lake Michigan, one of the world's largest freshwater sources, could face serious water shortages within 20 years.  Some 2,000 miles of the Great Lakes shoreline, about 20 percent of the total, suffers from contaminated sediments, and the lakes are losing their ability to support zooplankton essential to the food chain.[11]

The Chicago area is expected to suffer water shortfalls by 2020, by which time the area will have added 1.3 million residents.

In New Jersey, the State Plan, a blueprint for managing population growth, noted that it needs to spend $2 billion to patch leaks and clean up contamination in the water system; it could cost another $3.3 billion to accommodate population growth during the next 20 years.  And by 2040, the state expects water use to rise by nearly 80 percent.[12]

Updated 10/03