In other news, it appears as though the drought that’s currently crippling the American West is going to get worse before it gets better. Scientists (and casual observers) have watched the water level at reservoirs like Lake Mead drop to historically low levels in recent years, but satellite observations have now confirmed that the groundwater under the Colorado River Basin is disappearing as well. As is so often the case, we shoulder some of the blame. The evidence shows that we are simply “overdrafting” the region’s overtaxed reservoirs more quickly than they can be replenished. To learn more, check out the links here and here. In related news, Julia Lurie has written an excellent piece for The Atlantic confirming that many of the nation’s major water-bottling companies bottle their water in none other than drought-stricken California. And finally, if you missed Rowan Jacobsen’s extraordinary article in Outside describing what happened when authorities agreed to momentarily “set the Colorado River free” for old time’s sake, it’s definitely worth checking out.