AGUACYCLE
Tracking water across all 50 states

The water is running out.
We track what comes next.

AGUACYCLE maps America's shift to water recycling and reuse — with city and state water profiles, issue explainers, and data-driven analysis of the country's deepening water crisis.

51
States tracked
9.3%
Avg. wastewater reused
34
States in severe+ drought
709
City water profiles
Top Signal

The story shaping America's water

By the numbers

A national water-reuse scorecard

How much treated wastewater states put back to work — a leading indicator of resilience as traditional supplies shrink.

National averageTreated wastewater reused
6
States w/ established reuse
34
In severe+ drought
Top states by wastewater reuse

Illustrative figures for orientation. See each state profile for detail and primary sources.

The forces at work

Water issues we track

From the Colorado River crisis to forever chemicals, these are the pressures reshaping how the country sources its water.

On the ground

Cities rewriting the water playbook

The communities pioneering recycled drinking water, turf removal, and stormwater capture — and the ones running out of options.

Where it's most urgent

States under the most water stress

Newsroom

Latest analysis

Data

Mapping America's Worst Drinking-Water Violations

Oklahoma's water systems break the rules at the highest rate in the country, while Texas racks up the most violations by sheer volume. The gap between those two numbers is the whole story.

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Data

Where Americans Use the Most Water

The states with the highest per-capita water use are clustered in the arid West — and the reasons say more about irrigation and lawns than about long showers.

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Data

Lead in American Tap Water: What the 2026 Data Shows

More than a thousand U.S. water systems still deliver tap water above the federal lead action level — and two states account for more than half of them.

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Analysis

The AI Boom's Thirst: How Data Centers Strain Water Supplies

The water cost of artificial intelligence is not just the cooling towers you can see — it is the vast withdrawals behind the electricity that powers them, increasingly in the driest corners of the country.

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Environment

Shrinking Colorado River Pushes St. George, Utah Toward Recycled Drinking Water

With the long-planned Lake Powell Pipeline effectively shelved, Washington County is building a facility to turn treated wastewater into a new drinking water supply.

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Cities

How Las Vegas Made Tearing Out Grass a National Water Model

Southern Nevada's cash-for-grass program and ban on nonfunctional turf have become the playbook desert cities across the West are now copying.

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