Last year, California signed legislation making access to water a human right—one of the only states in the nation to do so. Federal and state sources have dedicated billions of dollars to study the problems, build water treatment plants, and explore the feasibility of local and regional solutions.

For more than a century, the copper smelter ASARCO was an icon of the border between El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua (México). The two 200-meter tall chimneys ceased to exist a few months ago, when they were destroyed as part of an environmental cleanup. Although ASARCO is now history, controversy continues about the extent of the pollution the company caused in its surroundings. The demolition raised new questions about new pollution it could have caused. Our correspondent Kent Paterson sends us this report from Ciudad Juarez.