As precious groundwater vanishes, a few in California find ways to bring it back

An AI-powered underwater sensor system developed by KMFRI and ShoShin Innovation Hub detects dangerous drops in dissolved oxygen in Lake Victoria and sends SMS alerts to fish farmers. This enabled them to move their cages in time and successfully averting a mass fish kill in February 2026 that would have threatened hundreds of tilapia cages at Dunga Beach.

Artificial mangrove roots or AMRs, developed by Thailand scientists are being installed on the country’s beaches to mimic mangrove’s sediment trapping abilities. These wood and rubber structures can help reverse coastal erosion, reclaim the land and help in restoring natural mangrove forests.

El Paso pecan farmers are implementing innovative water conservation techniques—including cover crops, polymer soil treatments, and improved tillage practices—that are showing promising results in reducing water usage and salt buildup, with cover crops alone reducing weed populations by 80-90% while creating cooler, more moisture-retentive soil conditions that help orchards survive in increasingly drought-prone conditions.

An Arizona farmer became the first organic regenerative certified farm in the southwest using practices that conserve water and improve soil health along the drought-stuck Gila River. His practices include growing arid-adapted crops, integrating livestock grazing, and planting cover crops.

The village of Lamkani, in India, was lush but became barren after years of droughts. In 2000, Dhananjay Newadkar, initiated a multi-pronged approach that was supported by the community. It included watershed development, a ban on grazing and felling trees. However, the bans were not enforced. Instead, artists incorporated messages about conservation in their performances and educated the community. Finally, the grasslands were restored through rotational grazing. Now, the town is water-sufficient, even in droughts.

As climate change continues to advance, its impact on farmlands has become more pronounced and increasingly devastating. Farmers and researchers in both South Africa and Nepal are working towards solutions to problems specifically related to climate change. Centered on developing technology, these farmers have found success with NASA satellite imagery as well as local clinics.

Climate change has led to shorter, more violent rainy seasons in the highlands around Lima, Peru, meaning that - even though there is theoretically enough water during the rainy season to sustain the local population, it flows downhill too quickly, leaving residents short of clean water during the dry season. Now, an organization called Condesan is helping the community to restore ancient stone canals from the seventh century that will help to store water from rainfall through the dry season and supply residents with a steady water source.

The effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and hotter global temperatures, are already having drastic impact on many communities, especially the rural, agricultural regions of countries such as Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Mozambique. Earthrise explores how people in these communities are learning new skills, implementing new techniques, and are striving in every way possible to adapt to these environmental changes while creating hope for sustainable growth in the future.

In Australia, the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council was formed after a severe drought to bring together federal, state and regional governments and bridge parochial concerns. It was meant to manage the basin as a whole and end overuse and salinization of farm land, leveraging new technologies to adapt to new realities.

Nevada launched a $25 million pilot program in 2023 that pays farmers to voluntarily retire groundwater rights in over-pumped basins. The state-funded buyback purchases water rights at competitive rates and retires them to reduce unsustainable groundwater extraction, with the help of local organizations like the Walker Basin Conservancy. Since forming, the program retired approximately 22,500 acre-feet of groundwater rights, and the program's success led to unanimous bipartisan legislation to expand it.