15Energy & infrastructureBelow the top 20
Cooling-water conflict in drought basins
CapabilityImpact domainCap-adjacent
Statement (NASA form)
Given that campuses are already sited on stressed aquifers in the American West and elsewhere, there is a possibility of a dry year putting farms, towns, and a training cluster on the same water right resulting in crop loss, rationing, or a political rupture over who drinks.
Likelihood
3Probable
Consequence
4Critical
Urgency
3Priority
The model does not live in the cloud. It lives on a river.
Composite 15 = 3×4 + 3