1.   Finding suitable sites in these arid areas has been difficult, particularly because of the scarcity of water.

2.   Her bold plan to create a water system in this arid area is itself unusual.

3.   Many oak trees in arid areas have taproots when they are young but switch to a horizontal-and-sinker root form as they get older.

4.   Perhaps the biggest impact from the whole bill, Dodson said, is that it brought attention to an arid area historically overlooked by the average citizen.

5.   The odd moniker came when settlers found water in what is an arid area, and decided this was the place to stay.

6.   The opposite problem, too little water, could be worsened in arid areas like the Middle East and parts of Africa, according to the intergovernmental panel.

7.   Treaties have been negotiated to slow desertification of arid areas and overfishing of the oceans.

8.   El Nino causes reversals of normal weather patterns, resulting in drought in usually wet locales and flooding in arid areas.

9.   The radar technique used in the studies works best in looking at arid areas free of vegetation that can skew results.

10.   But efforts to irrigate arid areas have so far proved prohibitively expensive and new methods of grain production are still in their experimental phase.