Earlier this month, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released a report on national water availability in the United States between 2010 and 2020, detailing water supply, quality, and availability over the course of the decade. The report illustrates significant fluctuations in water supply, demonstrating the need for reliable alternative water supplies such as recycled water.
According to the report, nearly 30 million people live in areas of the U.S. with high water stress, and a higher proportion of those people were considered socially vulnerable. The report notes that elevated regional stress tends to co-occur in four key areas. Click the map to see more detail.
The years 2011 and 2012 stood out as particularly high water stress years, with comparably low precipitation levels. Supply impacts during the years of highest water stress were felt most acutely in the Central and Southern regions of the High Plains amid unconfined aquifers, and in areas that relied heavily on groundwater resources for supply including California Coastal Basin, Colorado Plateau, Snake River Plains, Rio Grande, and North Atlantic Coastal Plains. The highest interannual variability in precipitation across the 10 years was seen in California, Nevada, Texas, Southern High Plains and the Southwest Desert, while the lowest variability was seen in Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, and the Northeast.
This ten-year assessment helps to make the case for investment in water reuse, which can address multiple water challenges. Water reuse can bolster groundwater and surface water supplies, improve water quality, enhance ecological flows and habitat maintenance, and more. | 
