According to the Washington Post, a megadrought is characterized as a sustained period of sparse precipitation and significant loss of soil moisture that span generations, about 10 times as long as the normal 3 year drought.

As early as the year 2050, NASA forecasts that the majority of the United States will be transformed into a giant dust bowl. For 30 years or more, our country might fall victim to the side effects of greenhouse gases and climate change. While portions of the United States currently or previously suffer from long periods of drought, can our country handle the supposed ‘megadrought’? After all, this event is said to lead to obvious water shortages, wildfires, and loss of vegetation.

The last time North America experienced a widespread megadrought was as far back as the medieval times, which fell between the 12th and 13th centuries. The difference between the past and future megadroughts is that the 2050 event is predicted to be much worse. This will particularly hit large cities because they require more water with the higher population density.

In preparation for the dry future, it’s best to start from the source. Plumbers are the ones who give the public access to the water that we’ve been draining while we could be better preserving it. Below are the extra steps that both the plumbing industry and government could be taking in preparation for the drought:

  1. On-Site Water Recycling
    Participating in on-site water recycling could eventually become a standard plumbing feature for large facilities and campuses in places already experiencing droughts.
  2. Catching and Cleaning Storm Water
    Catch basins allow us to collect stormwater by also filtering out debris such as leaves and litter. Usually located next to street curbs and in residential areas, catch basins are seen as another means of recycling the water created by the water cycle.
  3. Eliminating Leaks
    Whether one knows it or not, pipes could be leaking at any moment and increasing the water usage for any home/building. It’s best to have all pipes checked periodically to ensure that a property’s water footprint is as low as possible.

With snow in May and tornadoes in November, the weather is as unpredictable as ever these days. According to Toby R. Ault, assistant professor in the department of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell, our unpredictable climate and weather conditions continue to add mystery to what the future holds. However, it wouldn’t hurt to start preserving water in the most simplest of ways, whether the megadrought becomes a reality or not. After all, we owe it to H20 to at least give it a fighting chance of surviving a giant dust bowl!