A fascinating analysis by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program concludes that 57 percent of the nation’s population growth between 2000 and 2014 happened in places currently experiencing drought. Weird. But there also is this:

In the midst of these challenges, though, some of the fastest-growing places like Las Vegas, San Diego, San Antonio, and Austin are pioneering new ways to recycle and conserve water, while increasing flows into urban streams and rivers. These innovative steps represent crucial steps to address the country’s needed investment in water infrastructure, as states and localities look to overcome a host of economic and environmental costs in the years to come.