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Rivera, J.; Gonzales, M.’ Thompson, S.

http://wcrg.nmsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/Pubs/UNM_005A_Landscape_Morphology_and_Adaptation_Landuse_Change_Booklet_by_Sophia_Thompson_et_al_2014.pdf

Abstract: The Southwest is an arid region characterized by low water availablility even at the best of times. Drought is common and has forced regional communities to adapt to extreme conditions and drastic fluctuations in temperature and water availability. The acequia culture that has grown here and dates back to pre-colonial times uses a system of water sharing that has made agricultural productivity across the region not only possible but highly successful. Yet climate change, largely related to burning of fossil fuels, is projected to push the southwest region’s already unpredictable precipitation patterns to new extremes. The severe drought in the region is projected in some models to be a new normal with no real end in sight in terms of water scarcity.