Each year, we scan water coverage to understand what’s being reported and how water issues are framed in the broader news cycle. In our annual media scans, we find weather reliably drives water headlines: from snowpack and drought reports, to floods, freezes, and storms. Water, or lack thereof, is always in the news. In 2026, the risk isn’t that we aren’t paying enough attention to water; it’s that we’ll keep covering water issues as a series of disconnected crises instead of an interconnected system under strain.

Below we explore four storylines that could define water coverage in 2026.

Connecting the dots in extreme weather coverage

Extreme weather is a constant feature of water reporting because it’s a constant feature of everyday life. Yet, as Covering Climate Now wrote last year, most news coverage of extreme weather events don’t make connections to climate science. (Side note: CCNow’s evergreen “Making the Climate Connection” guide remains a great resource with tips and examples for talking about heat, drought, flooding, storms, and fire.) While we’ll continue to harp on the need to name these climate connections directly, we’d love to see long-form journalism that underscores these disasters not as isolated events, but as a connected, chronic crisis. Even more, we hope to see proactive stories about what communities need to “break the cycle of disaster, recover, and rebuild.” For example, we’re tracking North Carolina projects to shore up natural flood defenses and watching to see how much of the $20B in water funding voters approved in Texas will go to projects that multi-solve drought and flooding concerns.

The emergence of data centers

Technology, water, and energy are on a collision course. From Michigan, Oregon, Mississippi, and Arizona, to national lists, the growth of data centers (and growing local opposition) is a top story to watch in 2026. Last year, we looked at how data centers are reshaping our relationship with water. 

There are many water angles to these stories: groundwater depletion, competition for scarce resources, contamination, the strain on local water and power supplies, and a lack of transparency and oversight on big tech companies. We’re also seeing that opposition to data centers doesn’t fit neatly into a “left vs. right” story, but concerns are bipartisan, particularly in rural communities. Our hope for 2026 is to see coverage move from stories about isolated communities and data center projects to a more systemic, national context about the human and environmental tradeoffs of data center expansion. One where local opposition is surging, and successful, across the country.

The Colorado River as bellwether

It’s no surprise the state of the Colorado River makes the list of stories to watch in Western states like Colorado and Nevada. It’s one of the most closely watched watersheds in the U.S. With negotiations lagging and an expiring water management agreement, we expect local, regional, and national coverage to ramp up again in 2026.

In many ways, the Colorado River functions as a national symbol on how we relate to water in a hotter, drier climate. While much reporting will likely follow competing proposals, negotiations, and timelines, we’re hoping to see coverage of this major water issue lean away from the zero-sum, political talking points and into the constructive solutions like recycled water, Tribal water conservation and compensation, and complementary crops that use less water needed for long-term sustainability. We’ll also be looking for more coverage that centers Tribes as sovereign-decision makers, questions the status quo, and shifts our relationship with rivers.

Governance and infrastructure are limiting factors

Water systems are only as strong as the infrastructure and institutions that run them. It’s fair to say that both are getting pushed to a breaking point. Drinking water, sewer, and stormwater services in the U.S. are governed by a patchwork of local utilities, state agencies, federal rules, and decades-old legal frameworks. That fragmentation makes it hard to respond to rapid change. In many places, the physical infrastructure from dams to water mains are even older. Across the United States, we see stories of aging pipes breaking, sewers and storm drains overwhelmed by extreme weather, and empty reservoirs designed for a different climate. 

These infrastructure stories aren’t just background, they’re central backdrop to understanding how the United States could make clean and safe water a priority as a nation. Deeper still, how we tell stories about water infrastructure and governance will shape whether water remains a local concern or becomes a national responsibility.