Arizona Faces Worsening Drought Conditions

In an aerial view, polygonal blocks of giant desiccation cracks (GDCs), as geologists have dubbed them, are visible near Red Lake on June 28, 2021 north of Kingman, Arizona. GDCs form as underground water that supports the land is depleted, and are commonly associated with drought. Because locals who rely solely on local ground water have been resistant to pumping regulations, outside investors have taken advantage of that to create big farms that draw heavily from the aquifer. In several parts of Arizona, large industrial farms have drawn so much water from the ground that area residents can no longer drill deep enough to reach it. Large portions of the West are now classified as being in "exceptional drought", the most extreme drought category. Many major reservoirs have reached historic low levels and fire officials are warning that another devastating wildfire season has already begun.