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EXPLAINER: How cities in the West have water amid drought

FILE - A visitor takes photos at the newly renovated water fountain at the Los Angeles Music Center's plaza on Aug. 29, 2019, with city hall seen in the background. The sight of fountains, swimming pools, gardens and golf courses in Western cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego and Albuquerque can seem jarring with drought and climate change tightening their grip on the region. But Western water experts say they aren’t necessarily cause for concern. Many Western cities over the past three decades have diversified their water sources, boosted local supplies, and use water more efficiently now than in the past. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) FILE - Cason Gilmer, a senior field customer service representative from the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, installs an advanced water metering system in Agoura Hills, Calif., Jan. 5, 2022. The sight of fountains, swimming pools, gardens and golf courses in Western cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego and Albuquerque can seem jarring with drought and climate change tightening their grip on the region. But Western water experts say they aren’t necessarily cause for concern. Many Western cities over the past three decades have diversified their water sources, boosted local supplies, and use water more efficiently now than in the past. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) FILE - Water drips from a faucet near boat docks sitting on dry land at the Browns Ravine Cove area of drought-stricken Folsom Lake, in Folsom, Calif., on May 22, 2021. The sight of fountains, swimming pools, gardens and golf courses in Western cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego and Albuquerque can seem jarring with drought and climate change tightening their grip on the region. But Western water experts say they aren’t necessarily cause for concern. Many Western cities over the past three decades have diversified their water sources, boosted local supplies, and use water more efficiently now than in the past.(AP Photo/Josh Edelson, File) FILE - Bruce Murray, a greenskeeper at Chambers Bay golf course, waters the 16th tee next to the course's signature lone fir tree, Thursday, June 11, 2015, in University Place, Wash., a week before hosting the U.S. Open golf tournament. The sight of fountains, swimming pools, gardens and golf courses in Western cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego and Albuquerque can seem jarring with drought and climate change tightening their grip on the region. But Western water experts say they aren't necessarily cause for concern. Many Western cities over the past three decades have diversified their water sources, boosted local supplies, and use water more efficiently now than in the past. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) FILE - Misha McBride looks at a formerly sunken boat now on cracked earth hundreds of feet from what is now the shoreline on Lake Mead at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Monday, May 9, 2022, near Boulder City, Nev. The sight of fountains, swimming pools, gardens and golf courses in Western cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego and Albuquerque can seem jarring with drought and climate change tightening their grip on the region. But Western water experts say they aren't necessarily cause for concern. Many Western cities over the past three decades have diversified their water sources, boosted local supplies, and use water more efficiently now than in the past. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) FILE - Pipes extend into Lake Mead well above the high water mark near Boulder City, Nev., on March 23, 2012. The sight of fountains, swimming pools, gardens and golf courses in Western cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego and Albuquerque can seem jarring with drought and climate change tightening their grip on the region. But Western water experts say they aren't necessarily cause for concern. Many Western cities over the past three decades have diversified their water sources, boosted local supplies, and use water more efficiently now than in the past. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)