About this newsletter:
Hello, and welcome to Invisible Waters (formerly Western Water Notes), a newsletter featuring research, writing, interviews, and insights about human, social, and ecological relationships to water in the Western U.S.
This newsletter is dedicated to making invisible systems more visible. So much of the physical and social infrastructure built around water in the past century is hidden from the public. Yet, it is ingrained in our cultures, economies, and environments.
The goal of this newsletter is to make connections and help readers understand how water moves in a region where aridity and scarcity are defining features. In doing so, this newsletter aims to provide transparency and accountability over decisions about how water is managed, as well as historical context about how we got to where we are today, with the hope of informing future policies and solutions.
Who runs this newsletter?
👋 Hi, I’m Daniel Rothberg, and I’m an environmental writer researching water in arid regions, particularly in the Western U.S. My work focuses on examining how past and present actions have altered watersheds, and the consequences of development and reclamation on power, law, politics, and ecology. I’m interested in geography and how water has shaped natural and built environments over time and space.
Starting in 2018, I worked as a staff writer for the Nevada Independent, where I wrote about water is managed in the nation’s driest state. As an environmental reporter, I also covered public land, mining, and the energy transition while exploring social narratives about the West and how they have informed policy over the past century. My work on these topics has been published in the New York Times, Bloomberg, Sierra Magazine, and High Country News. Building off of my past work, I’m working a book project about water use in the Great Basin (Island Press).
I’m completing an M.S. in Environmental Policy and Management at UC Davis.
Areas of focus:
Freshwater access represents an urgent, global issue. As a report from the United Nations University Institute for the Environment noted in 2026, “across regions and levels of development, water systems are under unprecedented pressure. Rivers, lakes and wetlands are degrading, groundwater resources are being depleted beyond sustainable limits, and glaciers are retreating at accelerating rates. These trends signal not only growing stress, but in many contexts a structural imbalance between water demand and available resources (Madani K. 2026).
I’m interested in highlighting and discussing many of these trends — and the systems behind them — both globally and at home in the U.S. West. In particular, much of my research interests and writing tend to focus on groundwater policy. Communities in arid regions face significant groundwater depletion, leading to social, ecological, and economic losses. Given how hidden groundwater systems can be, we need to tell these stories. But there is also space for recovery, and we need to tell those stories too.
Broadly, some of my questions I think about include:
What are management and policy pathways to address groundwater overuse?
How is science incorporated into decision-making processes?
How does groundwater interact with surface water? Are existing policies, laws, and norms capable of managing groundwater and surface water conjunctively?
How does groundwater overuse impact water access, quality and ecosystems?
Who is included and excluded in policymaking? Who is at the table?
What are best practices in groundwater recovery?
How does information and communication play a role in policy outcomes?
What motivates water users to form coalitions and solve complex problems?
Where does water management incorporate “public trust” principles?
How to support this newsletter:
My goal is to write at least once a week, if not more often. Becoming a free Invisible Waters subscriber will ensure you get each new post sent straight to your inbox.
If you find my work valuable and want to support my work, please consider signing up for a paid monthly or yearly subscription. Paid subscribers will get access to the full archives and exclusive content. For the price of a cup of coffee, you can get a monthly subscription for $5/month, and a yearly subscription is $50/year ($4.17 monthly).
Don’t hesitate to reach out:
If you have ideas, feedback, or suggestions for things you would like to see covered, please don’t hesitate to reach out. My email is danielrothbergwrites@gmail.com.
