After decades of draining, some MN farmers look to put water back

Tucson has slashed its per capita water consumption by more than a third, and one of the more startling ways it's done that is by reusing water after it's flushed down the toilet or run through a washing machine.

Water:Charity assumed that money and celebrity exposure would be able to solve the world’s access-to-clean-water crisis. But this approach often led to more abandoned water pumps. Charities – and journalists who cover them – are now working to concentrate on making their solutions sustainable.

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.

Around the world, farmers are turning to permaculture and agrodiversity to create higher yields than chemical fertilizer while also avoiding the negative effects of conventional farming's focus on monocrop. Although results aren't fully conclusive, evidence does point to the success of low-impact farming strategies.

Jordan is dealing with an influx of Syrian refugees that are putting a strain on already scarce resources like water. In response, the United Nations World Food Program has started to grow barley and other foods hydroponically in a process that uses 90% less water than traditional methods. Beyond the innovations in the lab, new technology is also allowing refugees to shop freely in local supermarkets and use their irises—checked with eye scans—to pay for their groceries from their given funds. This eliminates the threat of theft and is improving food access across Jordan.

Farmers in Vietnam face rising sea levels but rejected the city's water engineering projects. They prefer gradual measures to cope with climate change so scientists have allowed the farmers to steer the conversation.

During the Industrial Revolution, farmers began harvesting monoculture crops which produced promising profits but proved harmful to the soil and weakened the immune capabilities of native plants. Lately, however, permaculture practices have been on the rise amongst farmers to better diversify their yields and reduce reliance on chemicals.

Fruit farmers in the Pacific Northwest are implementing mitigation strategies like shade, produce coatings, and water misters to protect their crops from extreme heat.

A grassroots campaign to encourage more environmentally sustainable diets called the Plant Based Treaty is picking up support across the globe. Pledgers make their own decisions on how to best take action.

When organic materials like wood chips and manure are heated in the absence of oxygen they create a black powdery substance called biochar. This material prevents the release of carbon into the atmosphere from the natural decaying process. And it has other beneficial uses like improving soil fertility, too.