ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—On a late July morning, a snapping turtle, about 18 inches in length, sat solemnly in a dry riverbed where the Rio Grande normally flows here. The aquatic reptile was one of few signs of life on a river that’s usually buzzing with various species of fish, ducks, insects and other animals.

Fast forward to one crisp day in mid-October, and muddy-hued water, typical for this stretch of the Rio Grande, once again flowed downstream past Albuquerque’s Old Town area. Ducks swam near a sandbar, and things seemed more or less back to normal after several weeks of replenishing rains in the region. But with the river repeatedly running dry in recent years after decades in which it rarely did, it’s clear that the megadrought plaguing the Southwest will present new challenges to the

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