February 6, 2024 — “Federal officials are investing billions of dollars to increase domestic mining for lithium, the critical mineral used to power electric vehicles, computers and even military technology. The goal is to decrease reliance on foreign countries,” writes Arizona State University’s Howard Center, but “The new push for American lithium is working, but at the risk of another critical natural resource: water.”

The nationally-acclaimed research reports that lithium mining requires billions of gallons of groundwater, at the expense of the arid western lands where the mines are popping up.  According to ASU, “The investigation focuses on a lithium mine in Silver Peak, Nevada and how the mine has caused underground water sources to dwindle and, in some cases, disappear. The series examines the implications on water sources from 72 lithium mines that have been proposed in nine states.”