Having followed the recent Recorder articles regarding drought in the Pioneer Valley, I was at first incredulous that drought even existed in western Massachusetts but realized it had more to do with water-level tables. Out here in the desert Southwest, we have a harsher definition of drought conditions. New Mexico is currently experiencing the hottest and driest summer in many decades. Few here have lawns, preferring hardier trees, bushes and plants, but even they have limits.
Northern New Mexico depends on two seasons to replenish its groundwater and provide irrigation for farmers; the winter mountain snowpack and the monsoon rains in mid-summer. Without them, things can get quite grim. They are this year. We had virtually no snow over the winter of 2025 – 2026. Our ski areas, indicators of how much has fallen, usually have a 60” inch base. This year, it was 18” and all the mountains ended their seasons early. Supposedly, the “Super El Nino” that the news media has been raving about will dump a ton of water on our heads, but that has yet to happen.
Water conservation is wired into every responsible New Mexican regardless of politics. A drought isn’t concerned with how “woke” you are or whether you attend church or own an arsenal of AR-15s. Unfortunately, outside interests aren’t that conscientious.
Tech giants, Oracle and OpenAI are building Project Jupiter, a massive AI data center in southern New Mexico, advertised with the usual hype of “creating jobs.” Oracle recently got their hands caught in the cookie jar by posting fake testimonials from New Mexican public officials lauding the project. This fraudulent activity is currently under investigation by the New Mexico Department of Justice which, unlike its federal peer, actually cares about justice, not vengeance.
But worse, Project Jupiter plans to use 1,000,000 gallons of water daily, mainly to cool their vast servers. Such water usage will have long-term results on state residents. Already the Rio Grande, an irrigation lifeline flowing from Colorado to Texas, is drying up by the time it reaches Albuquerque. The huge Elephant Butte Reservoir is down to 13% of capacity.
Before you think, “So what?” the West and worse, the Midwest — the Breadbasket of America — is facing a severe water crisis. Starting with the latter, the Midwest, where nearly all our grain, corn and cotton is grown — not to mention livestock raising — is supplied by a huge underground water source called the Ogallala Aquifer. Running from South Dakota to Texas, 30 percent of the groundwater needed for irrigation in our nation is used from it which in turn, is responsible for one-fifth of the country’s agricultural productivity. A recent U.S. Geological Survey found that the Aquifer has dropped more than 200 feet since mass irrigation systems became active. This trend is expected to continue with obviously dire consequences for all of us, especially with skyrocketing food prices.
Further west, 40,000,000 Americans living in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah are dependent on the Colorado River, Lakes Powell and Mead for drinking water, agriculture and hydro-electricity. All three of these are running dangerously low with a lower replenishing rate. It needs no reminding how much of our produce comes from California. And what will happen to the populations of Phoenix, Las Vegas and Tucson when the water stresses and rising temperatures become untenable and they become climate refugees?
Drought also brings the greater threat of wildfires, now consuming not only parts of North America, including one third of the United States, but Europe as well. Franklin County recently got a reminder that wildfire smoke can travel hundreds, if not over a thousand miles. You can connect the dots between global warming, drought and the threats described here.
These environmental crises affect the residents of Franklin County. Besides rising food costs; last year, insurance companies refused to renew policies for 2,600 homes in New Mexico alone because of wildfire risk. This is a national trend that will include Northeast catastrophes as well.
What can we do about this? For starters, acknowledge the problem and engage our best scientific minds for solutions, even if such solutions are in the long term. Unfortunately, the current clown car running our government prefers to demonize scientists. Donald Trump could care less what happens to the American people as long as he can wave immigrants in our faces while robbing the bank. But that won’t last forever. A climate equivalent of 9/11 is gathering and will eventually affect us all.
Daniel A. Brown lived in Franklin County for 44 years and has written a monthly My Turn column for over two decades. He lives outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Lisa and dog, Cody.