… [M]any people in the poorest county in the state have opted for cisterns, reservoirs buried underground and covered with a plastic lid or cement slab. To fill them, residents drive 20 minutes or so to town, often weekly, with tanks in their pickup trucks or on their trailers to buy water at 10 cents a gallon, or they have it delivered for an extra fee. … [I]n Fort Garland [Colo.], the system was abruptly cut off this month — without warning or notice. … Underneath it all is a deep concern about whether this is a preview of the water wars ahead as the West deals with unprecedented drought and its residents compete for a resource that is finite yet essential to life.

Other drought impact news:

• KNAU (Flagstaff, Ariz.): Groups sound alarm on ‘impending crisis’ at Glen Canyon Dam as long-term drought intensifies
• Phys.org: New tool helps estimate societal impact of droughts