Drought can hit almost anywhere: How 5 cities that nearly ran dry got water use under control
In 2024, the U.S. Northeast faced severe drought, prompting lessons on water management from cities like Cape Town and São Paulo. Proactive conservation and planning can mitigate future crises.
Water scarcity is often viewed as an issue for the arid American West, but the U.S. Northeast’s experience in 2024 shows how severe droughts can occur in just about any part of the country.
Cities in the Northeast experienced record-breaking drought conditions in the second half of 2024 after a hot, dry summer in many areas. Wildfires broke out in several states that rarely see them.
Before the drought, many people in the region weren’t prepared for water shortages or even paying much attention to their water use.
As global temperatures rise, cities throughout the U.S. are more likely to experience hotter, drier conditions like this. Those conditions increase evaporation, drying out vegetation and soil and lowering groundwater tables.
The Northeast drought was easing in much of the region in early 2025, but communities across the U.S. should take note of what happened. They can learn from the experiences of cities that have had to confront major water supply crises – such as Cape Town, South Africa; São Paulo, Brazil; Melbourne, Australia; Las Vegas; and New Orleans – and start planning now to avoid the worst impacts of future droughts.
Lessons from cities that have seen the worst
Our new analysis of these five cities’ experiences provides lessons on how to avoid a water supply crisis or minimize the effects through proactive policies and planning.
Many cities have had to confront major water supply crises in recent years. Perhaps the most well-known example is Cape Town’s “Day Zero.”
After three years of persistent drought in the region, Cape Town officials in fall 2017 began a countdown to Day Zero – the point at which water supplies would likely run so low that water would be turned off in neighborhoods and residents would need to fetch a daily allocation of water at public distribution points. Initially it was forecast to occur in April 2018.Residents in Cape Town, South Africa, line up to fill water jugs during a severe drought in 2018. AP Photo/Bram Janssen
Water rates were raised, and some households installed flow restrictors, which would automatically limit the amount of water that could be used. Public awareness and conservation efforts cut water consumption in half, allowing the city to push back its estimate for when Day Zero would arrive. And when the rains finally came in summer 2018, Day Zero was canceled.
A second example is São Paulo, which similarly experienced a severe drought between 2013 and 2015. The city’s reservoirs were reduced to just 5% of their capacity, and the water utility reduced the pressure in the water system to limit water use by residents.
Water pricing adjustments were used to penalize high water users and reward water conservation, and a citywide campaign sought to increase awareness and encourage conservation. As in Cape Town, the crisis ended with heavy rains in 2016. Significant investments have since been made in upgrading the city’s water distribution infrastructure, preventing leaks and bringing water to the city from other river basins.
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Planning ahead can reduce the harm
The experiences of Cape Town and São Paulo – and the other cities in our study – show how water supply crises can affect communities.
When major changes are made to reduce water consumption, they can affect people’s daily lives and pocketbooks. Rapidly designed conservation efforts can have harmful effects on poor and vulnerable communities that may have fewer alternatives in the event of restrictions or shutoffs or lack the ability to pay higher prices for water, forcing tough choices for households between water and other necessities.
Planning ahead allows for more thoughtful policy design.
For example, Las Vegas has been grappling with drought conditions for the past two decades. During that time, the region implemented water-conservation policies that focus on incentivizing and even requiring reduced water consumption.Lake Mead, a huge reservoir on the Colorado River that Las Vegas relies on for water, reached record low levels in 2022. AP Photo/John Locher
Since 2023, the Las Vegas Valley Water District has implemented water rates that encourage conservation and can vary with the availability of water supplies during droughts. In its first year alone, the policy saved 3 billion gallons of water and generated US$31 million in fees that can be used by programs to detect and repair leaks, among other conservation efforts. A state law now requires businesses and homeowner associations in the Las Vegas Valley to remove their decorative grass by the end of 2026.
Since 2002, per capita water use in Las Vegas has dropped by an impressive 58%.
Solutions and strategies for the future
Most of the cities we studied incorporated a variety of approaches to building water security and drought-proofing their community – from publishing real-time dashboards showing water use and availability in Cape Town to investing in desalination in Melbourne.
But we found the most important changes came from community members committing to and supporting efforts to conserve water and invest in water security, such as reducing lawn watering.
Prioritizing green infrastructure, such as retention ponds and bioswales, that help absorb rain when it does fall and investing in water recycling can also diversify water supplies.
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Taking these steps now, ahead of the next drought, can prepare cities and lessen the pain.
3 Ways You Can Help Tackle Hunger and Strengthen Communities This Holiday Season
(Family Features) The holiday season is often a time of joy, connection and celebration. For millions of families across the country, however, it is also a season of uncertainty, wondering how to put food on the table or meet other essential needs. According to the USDA, more than 47.4 million people in the United States experience food insecurity each year. That’s why, each holiday season, thousands of Charles Schwab employees come together to fight hunger and strengthen the communities where they live and work. Through employee meal-packing events and nonprofit grants, volunteers and partners help families access nutritious meals and vital support during the holidays and beyond. “As we gather with loved ones this season, it’s important to remember that not all of our neighbors have that security,” said Kristine Dixon, managing director of Charles Schwab Community Affairs. “By working side-by-side with local hunger relief organizations, we’re helping ensure more families can share in the joy of a holiday meal and the peace of knowing they are supported.” As you prepare for the holidays, here are a few ways you can help address hunger relief and support your neighbors. Donate to a Local Food Bank Food banks and pantries are at the heart of efforts to make nutritious food accessible for all. Inflation and rising costs of living have stretched budgets thin, making it harder for families to afford groceries. Nonperishable donations such as canned goods, pasta and rice are always in high demand. Monetary donations often go even further, giving food banks the ability to purchase exactly what is needed most. Volunteer Your Time The gift of time is just as valuable as food donations. Food banks and hunger relief nonprofits rely on volunteers to sort, pack and distribute meals. Even a few hours can make a meaningful difference, adding up to thousands of volunteer hours to help nonprofits meet urgent needs during the holiday season and year-round. Support Community Partnerships No single organization can solve hunger alone. Collective action from neighbors, companies, nonprofits and others is what creates lasting impact. This year, Schwab employees will join forces with partners like Harvest Pack to pack more than 1 million nutritious meals for families across the country. Supporting these types of efforts, whether through donations, volunteering or spreading awareness, can expand the impact. Hunger is about more than food; it’s about stability and opportunity. By giving, volunteering and partnering with organizations that serve families in need, you can make the holiday season brighter for millions of Americans. Learn more at aboutschwab.com/season-of-giving. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock SOURCE:Charles Schwab
Stories of Change: People Making a Difference
Discover inspiring stories of changemakers making a positive impact. Explore videos and articles of people tackling today’s biggest challenges with action and hope. Visit: https://stmdailynews.com/stories-of-change/
A student looks at different images, as eye-tracking technology monitors how she is visualizing the objects. Chris Necuze/FIU, CC BY
Even before they can read, young children are visualizing letters and other objects with the same strategies adults use
Shannon Pruden, Florida International University and Karinna Rodriguez, Florida International University What do puzzles, gymnastics, writing and using maps all have in common? They all rely on people’s ability to visualize objects as they spin, flip or turn in space, without physically moving them. This is a spatial skill that developmental psychologists call mental rotation. Whether a person is navigating a new city or doing a cartwheel, they must use mental rotation skills to move shapes or objects in their mind and make sense of where their bodies are going and what surrounds them. When children play with puzzles, building blocks or pattern games, they are also practicing mental rotation. Over time, these skills support learning in math, science and reading. This can look like visualizing pulley systems in physics or seeing the differences between similar-looking letters such as b and d, which young children often confuse. Strong mental rotation skills also lay the foundation for doing well in school and developing interest in careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Most preschool-age children are not yet learning to read – but it turns out they are still using some of these same spatial reasoning skills as they think about the world around them. We are scholars of, developmental science and were curious to find out how children as young as 3 years old mentally rotate objects. While there is research on the age at which children can mentally rotate objects, less is understood about how children are solving mental rotation problems. We found in our research, conducted from 2022 to 2023, that young children are using the same problem-solving strategies as adults when they solve a mental rotation task.
Children think visually, just like adults
We used eye-tracking technology to understand how a sample of 148 children, all between 3 and 7 years old, solved different mental rotation problems. Eye-trackers use harmless infrared light to capture eye movements. This technology lets us observe how children solve these problems in real time. As part of our study, we showed each child a large picture of items such as a fire truck, as well as two smaller pictures of the same truck, one placed above the other and positioned slightly differently. Children were asked to say which small picture on the right matched the large one on the left. In this example, the correct answer is the top picture, because that top fire truck can be rotated to match the large fire truck. The bottom fire truck was a mirrored image, and no matter how much you rotate it, it will never match the large fire truck.Children looked at pictures of fire trucks as part of a research study to assess how they manipulated the object in their heads.Karinna Rodriguez While the children thought about their response, the eye-tracker, mounted right below the computer screen, recorded their eye movements. By looking at where and for how long children looked at each image, we figured out what kind of strategy they were using. Some children focused on fewer parts of the object and spent less time studying its details. This suggests they used a holistic strategy, meaning they took in the whole image at once, instead of breaking it into pieces. These children mentally rotated the entire object to solve the task. Other children focused on parts of the object and spent more time studying its details. This suggests they broke the image down into pieces instead of visualizing the image as a whole, known as a piecemeal strategy. Our findings support prior work showing that children generally use these two visual approaches to solve mental rotation problems. This study helped us learn where children look while solving puzzles and identify how they solve these problems – without ever having to ask the child, who might be too young to explain, about their process. Children were more likely to turn the whole image instead of breaking it down into pieces, a pattern of problem solving adults typically also use. This means that even very young children are already thinking about how objects move and turn in space in ways that are more advanced than expected.An example of a mental rotation task that can show how people are visually moving objects in their minds.Angie Mackewn, CC BY
Supporting children’s visual skills
Knowing how young children mentally rotate objects may help researchers, teachers and parents understand why some children struggle with learning to read. Children who break an image down into pieces, instead of visualizing it as a whole, to solve mental rotation problems may be the very same children who struggle with discriminating similar-looking letters such as p and q and may later be diagnosed with dyslexia. Parents can play an important role in building their child’s mental rotation skills. Parents can help children by offering them opportunities to practice rotating real objects with toys such as three-dimensional puzzles or building blocks. Tangrams – flat, colorful puzzles that come in different shapes – can be used to practice breaking down shapes of animals into pieces. Parents can encourage their child to look for shapes that match parts of the animal or object they are building. Nov. 8 is International STEM Day, a celebration of all things science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Research like ours provides valuable guidance for designing early STEM activities and educational tools. By directly observing children’s problem solving in real time, we can develop better ways for educators and toy makers to support strong spatial thinking from an early age. To celebrate, we encourage people to engage in activities that test their spatial skills, such as ditching the GPS for the day or playing a game of Tetris. Mental rotation is a powerful skill that helps us understand and interact with the surrounding physical world. From solving puzzles to reading maps, mental rotation plays a role in many everyday activities. Building mental rotation abilities can improve children’s performance in subjects such as reading, math and science and may inspire future careers in STEM fields. Shannon Pruden, Professor of psychology, Florida International University and Karinna Rodriguez, PhD candidate in psychology, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Dive into “The Knowledge,” where curiosity meets clarity. This playlist, in collaboration with STMDailyNews.com, is designed for viewers who value historical accuracy and insightful learning. Our short videos, ranging from 30 seconds to a minute and a half, make complex subjects easy to grasp in no time. Covering everything from historical events to contemporary processes and entertainment, “The Knowledge” bridges the past with the present. In a world where information is abundant yet often misused, our series aims to guide you through the noise, preserving vital knowledge and truths that shape our lives today. Perfect for curious minds eager to discover the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of everything around us. Subscribe and join in as we explore the facts that matter. https://stmdailynews.com/the-knowledge/
High Demand Marks “Veggies for Veterans” Event Amid SNAP Delays
Diana Gregory Outreach Services’ latest Veggies for Veterans event at the Phoenix VA saw record demand, with 700 veterans receiving fresh produce—an increase linked to SNAP benefit delays following the recent government shutdown.
Phoenix, AZ — November 5, 2025Diana Gregory Outreach Services hosted another successful “Veggies for Veterans” event last week at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, honoring and supporting those who’ve served our nation. This year’s turnout revealed a notable surge in demand for donated fresh produce. More than 40 volunteers helped pack and distribute 700 bags filled with 14 varieties of fruits and vegetables—a last-minute increase from the original 600 due to the growing need.
Image Credit: Phoenix VA Health Care System
Organizers observed that this heightened demand may be tied to the ongoing effects of the recent government shutdown, which caused delays in SNAP(Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits for many households, including veterans and seniors who rely on food assistance. Peddler’s Son contributed bags of red and green grapes for every recipient, with strong support from community sponsors including State Farm, Southwest Airlines, Sanderson Ford, Harrah’s, Phoenix VA Health Care System, Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus-Pine Council, and the Archer-Ragsdale Tuskegee Airmen Chapter. Founder Diana Gregory thanked all who made the event possible, reaffirming her commitment to bringing nutrition and dignity to underserved veterans through Gregory’s Fresh Market. “To all veterans—thank you for your service,” said Gregory.
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