In the southeast corner of California, 300-foot-tall sand dunes rise from a sunbaked landscape dotted with ocotillo and creosote bushes. Summer temperatures here regularly exceed 110 degrees, and annual rainfall is comparable to that of the Sahara Desert. Despite its unforgiving terrain, more than 180,000 residents live in Imperial County, one of the country’s most productive agricultural regions and more recently a magnet for data center development and lithium extraction proposals. This has all been made possible by turn-of-the-20th century canals that carve up the region, supplying it with more than a million gallons of Colorado River water every minute. … Communities across Imperial Valley are now contemplating what dwindling water resources might mean for their region.

Other Colorado River management news:

• Invisible Waters: Blog: River governance is made, one way or another
• The Colorado Sun (Denver): Opinion: Will more of the Colorado River flow uphill toward the Front Range money?