Science News asks whether the US Southwest's 27-year megadrought will ever end

Science News Magazine's issue dated 1 October 2026 led with a cover feature by writer Nikk Ogasa asking whether the United States Southwest's historic megadrought will ever end. The article notes that Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, California and parts of northern Mexico have been gripped by abnormally dry conditions for 27 consecutive years, making the current drought the most severe the region has experienced in at least 1,200 years according to tree-ring reconstructions. Since 2000 the Colorado River's flow has fallen by roughly 20 percent, and Lakes Powell and Mead — its two largest reservoirs — slumped to historic lows in August 2026, with their combined storage at about a quarter of capacity. Climate scientists quoted in the piece warn that human-caused warming has transformed what was once a cyclical dry phase into a semi-permanent aridification, and that even if the current drought formally ends, hotter temperatures and higher evaporative demand will leave the Southwest's water budget structurally stressed. The piece pairs with reporting on record-low reservoir levels and renewed negotiations over Colorado River allocations between the seven Basin states.