Water and energy are interconnected. A frequent term to describe
this relationship is the “water-energy nexus.”
Energy for Water: Energy is needed to store water, get it where
it is needed and also treat it to be used:
* Extracting water from rivers and streams or pumping it
from aquifers, and then conveying it over hills and into storage
facilities is a highly energy intensive process. The State Water
Project (SWP) pumps water 700 miles, including up nearly 2,000
feet over the Tehachapi Mountains. The SWP is the largest single
user of energy in California. It consumes an average of 5 billion
kWh per year. That’s about 2 to 3 percent of all electricity
consumed in California
* Water treatment facilities use energy to pump and process
water for use in homes, businesses and industry
* Consumers use energy to treat water with softeners or
filters, to circulate and pressurize water and to heat and cool
water
* Wastewater plants use energy to pump wastewater to
treatment plants, and also to aerate and filter it at the plant.
Different end uses require more electricity for delivery than
others. Water for residential, commercial and industrial end-use
needs the most energy (11 percent), followed by agricultural
end-use (3 percent), residential, commercial and industrial
supply and treatment (3 percent), agricultural water supply and
treatment (1 percent) and wastewater treatment (1 percent),
according to the California Energy Commission.
Water for Energy: Water is used to generate electricity
* Water is needed either to process raw materials used in a
facility or maintaining a plant,or to just generate electricity
itself.
Overall, the electricity industry is second only to agriculture
as the largest user of water in the United States. Electricity
production from fossil fuels and nuclear energy requires 190,000
million gallons of water per day, accounting for 39 percent of
all freshwater withdrawals in the nation. Coal, the most abundant
fossil fuel, currently accounts for 52 percent of U.S.
electricity generation, and each kWh generated from coal requires
withdrawal of 25 gallons of water.
The bones of a 193-acre data center campus in Eagle Mountain
are ready after developers placed the project’s last beam on
Friday in an event crowded by the about 2,000 construction
workers employed at the site. … One aspect of the
facilities that company executives highlighted during the event
centered around the immense need for water notorious among most
data centers. This one, they said, uses a closed-loop cooling
system that would only need to be filled once and won’t consume
any additional water for cooling systems once the project is
operational. … Data centers across the country consumed
about 2.66 trillion liters of water in 2025, according to the
research firm Mordor Intelligence, and are estimated to
increase the number to 2.97 trillion liters this year.
Oakley has become the first Bay Area city to temporarily
ban new data centers, signaling a more cautious approach
as other parts of Silicon Valley continue to line up
projects to meet rising demand for artificial
intelligence. The Oakley City Council voted
unanimously Tuesday to impose a 45-day moratorium on data
center projects, barring the city from accepting or processing
related land-use applications. … The decision follows
growing concern among residents in the eastern Contra Costa
city about the impacts of large-scale data centers,
particularly their heavy demand for electricity and
water.
There are currently no active applications for a data center in
Cochise County. Still, many residents wanted to ban the
facilities outright. On Tuesday, the county adopted a set of
data center regulations after a 3-0 vote by its supervisors.
… Its new regulations ask data center developers
to submit noise impact analyses and water use plans.
They will also require them to show they can supply power
without “adversely impacting existing users” and mostly bar
them from using potable water for cooling servers.
… Still, many county residents who spoke at the April 7
board meeting felt that a moratorium, not the regulations,
better reflected their wishes.
A nationwide expansion of controversial and resource-guzzling
artificial intelligence data centers has reached Los Angeles
County, and the wave has cities in the region grappling with
questions over their impact. In addition to data centers’
energy demands, critics highlighted concerning impacts to
water, pollutants from backup generators and data centers
creating heat islands. … Underpinning the data
center question is the amount of energy they use and the impact
on the environment as they power vast servers needed for modern
tech life. Many data centers use water for cooling. That
same size data center may consume about 40 acre-feet of water
per year, the equivalent of the water use of 120
households.
… [Khara] Boender is the senior manager of state policy for
the Data Center Coalition, the industry group that represents
data centers owners and their interests. She’s been extremely
busy in recent weeks, wading through the many, many new
proposals targeting their members. The bevy of new bills is
linked to the explosion of artificial intelligence, which has
spurred a nationwide race to build out the digital
infrastructure needed to support new AI models. And while data
centers are nothing new — they expanded in lockstep with the
growth of the internet — state officials expect them to use
huge amounts of electricity and water in
coming years. … POLITICO caught up with Boender to hear
more about why her industry is against the proposals, and its
ideas on how regulations should work.
Last year, Long Beach celebrated a deal Synergy Oil & Gas
negotiated with a regional wetlands authority in Southern
California. A former oil field, 154 acres of land in the city
of Long Beach would become public wetlands;
the company would gain a more valuable property and
environmental credits. But a state law meant to keep wells away
from homes and schools thwarted the company’s plan for more
drilling – and now the wetlands deal has become fodder for the
Trump administration’s war against California Democratic energy
policies. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright traveled to
the property, owned by Synergy Oil & Gas, on Wednesday with a
message to Gov. Gavin Newsom: state policies are increasing
costs for Californians, and the Trump administration will be
challenging them.
Attorneys for conservation and Indigenous rights groups filed
an appeal Wednesday in the effort to stop an open-pit
lithium-boron mine from being built on the only known habitat
of an endangered wildflower. … The Western Shoshone
Defense Project, who are represented in the appeal by the
Western Mining Action Project, said the mine’s water use could
also potentially dry out Cave Spring, a sacred site less than a
mile from the proposed mine quarry. According to the project’s
final environmental review, if Cave Spring is fed by
groundwater the mine could potentially decrease the amount of
water discharged from the spring.
The explosive growth in data centers is fueling concerns in
California, as well as across the country, about water and
energy use. Some have gone as far as to propose a water usage
fee on data centers. However, others argue that data center
water use is just a drop in the bucket compared to other uses
or that most data centers are moving toward less
water-intensive practices, such as reusing water in closed-loop
systems. To help us understand what we do and don’t know about
California data centers and water use, we spoke with Dr. Marie
Grimm, an environmental policy research fellow at UC Berkeley’s
Center for Law, Energy, & the Environment, about their new
report “Regulating Data Center Water Use in California.”
In Aurora, data center proposals run through a simple filter.
City officials compare total water use against how much of that
water won’t come back—lost to evaporation. If either number
gets too high, the project doesn’t move forward. When a
developer wants to build in Denver, there is no matrix. That
gap—two cities, two standards, nothing statewide connecting
them—is the center of a question Colorado has avoided
answering: who is responsible for knowing how much
water AI data centers use, and when does that become too
much? The question got harder to ignore this spring.
On March 16, Governor Jared Polis activated Phase 2 of the
state’s Drought Response Plan—the first activation in nearly
six years—after federal water managers ranked this year’s
snowpack 45th out of 46 years on record.
… [A] group of residents is gathering signatures for a
potential November 2026 ballot initiative that would block data
centers in Imperial County altogether. They’re calling it the
“Imperial County Data Center Prohibition Act.” …
[Developer Sebastian] Rucci has proposed obtaining 6
million gallons per day of reclaimed water from
Imperial and El Centro to cool a massive data center, which
would use 750,000 gallons a day. Rucci said the unused
water would be funneled into the Salton Sea to
ameliorate environmental damage there. Reclaimed water from
both cities is already channeled into the sea, though at a
lesser level of treatment, so the project would ultimately
result in less water in the sea.
City officials began weighing whether to allow data centers in
the City, with discussion focusing on the facilities’
significant demands on electricity and water infrastructure as
well as how they should be defined and regulated. The
Housing, Homelessness and Planning Committee on Wednesday
received a staff presentation outlining what data centers are,
how they operate and the potential impacts they could have
if permitted locally. … Officials underscored
the scale of resources required to operate such facilities. A
10-megawatt data center can consume roughly the same amount of
electricity as 8,000 households and use water equivalent to
about 120 households annually, depending on cooling methods.
… At least 36 states now offer tax incentives to attract data
center projects. But a backlash is growing in tandem — at least
12 states have filed moratorium bills this legislative cycle to
pause new data center construction while they sort out impacts
on electric grids, water supplies and public
health. Against that backdrop, the closed-door “Data x
Power” summit in Jackson April 1-2 will convene about 50 senior
leaders from hyperscale technology companies, energy
developers, government agencies and academia to explore whether
Wyoming belongs in the conversation.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area is having a very bad start
to spring. The water level is dwindling in Lake Mead,
America’s largest reservoir and a major
supplier of drinking water to California, and soaring
temperatures are driving toxic algae outbreaks in the water and
prompting federal officials to close hiking trails. … As
unseasonably warm winter weather scorched much of the American
West over the past several weeks, Lake Mead has lost crucial
opportunities for replenishment. … Meanwhile,
hydroelectric power output continues to decline at Hoover Dam
as Lake Mead shrinks.
… Water Resource Advocates was one of more than a dozen
groups that gathered Wednesday for a joint meeting of the
[Nev.] interim committees on natural resources and
infrastructure. The meeting focused solely on data centers and
their water and energy needs. … Representatives of
the data center industry suggested existing estimates related
to water use are inflated because they are based on outdated
technology. … Groups more critical of data centers
emphasized a need for more transparency and reporting on actual
water usage. … Beyond the water used on site for
cooling, there remains the fact that producing electricity also
requires a lot of water.
Do you use Chat GPT? Do you talk to Siri on your phone? If so,
you’ve helped fuel the rise in data centers. Now, the
energy-hungry, water-thirsty centers are
coming to places in the Southwest, including the lands of
native peoples. That was the topic of a panel discussion Friday
in Window Rock, Arizona, organized by Diné C.A.R.E., a Navajo
environmental organization. Executive director of Diné
C.A.R.E. Robyn Jackson said data centers have become a serious
concern for the Navajo Nation. She said five centers have been
proposed in and near the nation, three in Arizona and two in
New Mexico. … Water required to cool the facilities is
also enormous. Yet centers are being built in hot, arid states
such as Arizona, even as it and six other states wrangle over
how to allocate Colorado River water.
California’s largest solar energy project won approval Tuesday
with the Kern County Board of Supervisors’ 4-0 vote in favor of
a 2-gigawatt photovoltaic installation expected to create 1,300
construction jobs at its peak and generate tax revenue of $1.5
billion during its roughly three-decade lifespan. Complete
with batteries capable of delivering 16 gigawatt-hours of
energy, the Buttonbush Solar and Storage project represents a
significant shift, in that Kern’s other utility-scale solar
farms are located in the eastern portion of the county. San
Diego-based developer Avantus says it chose western Kern for
its transmission capacity and because farmland there is under
stress from groundwater management
regulations.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an
excellent overview of the history of water development and use in
California. It includes the latest information on the state’s
changing hydrology, recent water conservation legislation and the
state’s efforts to stretch the available water supplies.
… In Boulder City, a short drive southeast from Henderson,
voters will get to decide whether data centers are an
acceptable use for a specific portion of city-owned land known
as the Eldorado Valley Transfer Area. … A data center
could be an answer to water waste in Boulder City.
… Currently, only some of the wastewater from the city plant
is used for dust control at a quarry and in solar farms, while
the rest is left to evaporate. This isn’t the norm in the Las
Vegas Valley or Laughlin, where nearly every drop of water used
indoors is captured, treated and sent back to Lake Mead to help
stretch the state’s meager share of the Colorado
River. … [T]he city could make a profit off of
selling that treated wastewater to a data center.
Rising energy bills for ratepayers, exorbitant water use,
feeding the big appetites of companies racing to power AI –
debate on how to harness and accommodate the data center boom
is sweeping the nation. As developers clash with communities
over hyper-scale data centers nationwide, two bills that would
curb potential economic, environmental and public health
impacts on residents have cleared hurdles in
California. … [SB 887] would require data center
projects to abide by the California Environmental Quality Act
while also providing an avenue to fast-track construction if
they meet certain conditions, including using recycled
water and avoiding the use of fossil fuel energy.
… [A] public lands access group has proposed an eye-poppingly
ambitious plan to build eight massive desalination plants off
the California coastline, turning ocean water into fresh for
farming, and reducing demand on the ailing Colorado
River. To meet the energy demand, the plants might
have to be powered with nuclear reactors. … The plan’s
authors at the Idaho-based BlueRibbon Coalition say their $40
billion proposal offers a viable long-term solution at a time
when President Donald Trump is slashing environment-based
regulatory delays and encouraging the country to think big.
The International Energy Agency’s executive director has called
hydropower a “forgotten giant,” and has urged governments to do
more to remember it. U.S. President Donald Trump has said
hydropower is “fantastic,” a sharp contrast to his disdain for
wind and solar. But federal energy data shows that U.S.
hydropower output has been nearly flat while other sources are
growing. Last year, electricity generation from hydroelectric
dams was up 1.7 percent from the prior year, according to the
Energy Information Administration. … [Climate change] leads
to alterations in water flow patterns. While some regions, such
as the Colorado River Basin, have seen low water levels and
reduced hydropower, others have been steadier.
Following hours of public testimony and discussion, the Oakley
City Council voted 4-1 on Tuesday to approve a controversial
industrial project that will convert vineyards into a logistics
hub, though the plan no longer includes data centers. The
developer removed that possibility from the project’s
application before the council’s final vote around midnight.
… During Tuesday’s meeting, residents packed the
council’s chambers to express their concerns about the
environmental impact of the project on their community and
nearby ecosystems. The most pressing objections centered on the
enormous water and electricity demands of the
potential data centers.
The proposed East Bay AI data center is not moving forward yet,
as the Provo City Council voted unanimously not to approve the
zoning change. … According to the memo on the ordinance,
the data center would power itself only from the city electric
grid rather than producing any electricity on-site, and it
would use a closed-loop water system with water use being
capped 4,380,000 gallons per year. … At the same time,
the water does still need to be replaced, and a representative
for B+F Timpanogos said that could happen every two to three
years, depending on engineering. … [A] large number of
people came to speak against approving the data center. Many of
them cited environmental concerns around water and power usage.
Both the Utah House and Senate signed off on a proposal to
require large data centers moving to Utah to report their
annual water use to state officials. … “The market itself has
reacted to the concern nationwide about water use,” said State
Representative Jill Koford, R-Ogden, who sponsored the bill.
“In the second-driest state in the nation, I think it’s good
for us to set the tone nationally.” … Koford’s bill
would require data centers that are at least 10,000 square feet
and use at least 75 acre-feet of water a year to report
their water usage tothe state. That
water usage data would also be accessible to the public.
This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
On this first-ever Foundation water tourwe examined water issues along the 263-mile Klamath River, from its spring-fed headwaters in south-central Oregon to its redwood-lined estuary on the Pacific Ocean in California.
Running Y Resort
5500 Running Y Rd
Klamath Falls, OR 97601
This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
Learn the history and challenges facing the West’s most dramatic
and developed river.
The Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River Basin introduces the
1,450-mile river that sustains 40 million people and millions of
acres of farmland spanning seven states and parts of northern
Mexico.
The 28-page primer explains how the river’s water is shared and
managed as the Southwest transitions to a hotter and drier
climate.
This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
This special Foundation water tour journeyed along the Eastern Sierra from the Truckee River to Mono Lake, through the Owens Valley and into the Mojave Desert to explore a major source of water for Southern California, this year’s snowpack and challenges for towns, farms and the environment.
This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
The majestic beauty of the Sierra
Nevada forest is awe-inspiring, but beneath the dazzling blue
sky, there is a problem: A century of fire suppression and
logging practices have left trees too close together. Millions of
trees have died, stricken by drought and beetle infestation.
Combined with a forest floor cluttered with dry brush and debris,
it’s a wildfire waiting to happen.
Fires devastate the Sierra watersheds upon which millions of
Californians depend — scorching the ground, unleashing a
battering ram of debris and turning hillsides into gelatinous,
stream-choking mudflows.
We explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop
of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad
sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and
climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in
the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin
states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this
water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial
needs was the focus of this tour.
Hampton Inn Tropicana
4975 Dean Martin Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89118
This 30-minute documentary-style DVD on the history and current
state of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program includes an
overview of the geography and history of the river, historical
and current water delivery and uses, the genesis and timeline of
the 1988 lawsuit, how the settlement was reached and what was
agreed to.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
20-minute DVD that explains the problem with polluted stormwater,
and steps that can be taken to help prevent such pollution and
turn what is often viewed as a “nuisance” into a water resource
through various activities.
Many Californians don’t realize that when they turn on the
faucet, the water that flows out could come from a source close
to home or one hundreds of miles away. Most people take their
water for granted; not thinking about the elaborate systems and
testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state. Where drinking water comes from,
how it’s treated, and what people can do to protect its quality
are highlighted in this 2007 PBS documentary narrated by actress
Wendie Malick.
A 30-minute version of the 2007 PBS documentary Drinking Water:
Quenching the Public Thirst. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues surrounding the elaborate systems
and testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state.
Water truly has shaped California into the great state it is
today. And if it is water that made California great, it’s the
fight over – and with – water that also makes it so critically
important. In efforts to remap California’s circulatory system,
there have been some critical events that had a profound impact
on California’s water history. These turning points not only
forced a re-evaluation of water, but continue to impact the lives
of every Californian. This 2005 PBS documentary offers a
historical and current look at the major water issues that shaped
the state we know today. Includes a 12-page viewer’s guide with
background information, historic timeline and a teacher’s lesson.
This beautiful 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Klamath River Watershed. The
map text explains the many issues facing this vast,
15,000-square-mile watershed, including fish restoration;
agricultural water use; and wetlands. Also included are
descriptions of the separate, but linked, Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement,
and the next steps associated with those agreements. Development
of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this
24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson
River, and its link to the Truckee River. The map includes the
Lahontan Dam and reservoir, the Carson Sink, and the farming
areas in the basin. Map text discusses the region’s hydrology and
geography, the Newlands Project, land and water use within the
basin and wetlands. Development of the map was funded by a grant
from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Lahontan
Basin Area Office.
Redesigned in 2017, this beautiful map depicts the seven
Western states that share the Colorado River with Mexico. The
Colorado River supplies water to nearly 40 million people in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
and Mexico. Text on this beautiful, 24×36-inch map, which is
suitable for framing, explains the river’s apportionment, history
and the need to adapt its management for urban growth and
expected climate change impacts.
The Water Education Foundation’s second edition of
the Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin is
hot off the press and available for purchase.
Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview covers the
history of the region’s tribal, agricultural and environmental
relationships with one of the West’s largest rivers — and a
vast watershed that hosts one of the nation’s oldest and
largest reclamation projects.
The construction of Glen Canyon Dam
in 1964 created Lake Powell. Both are located in north-central
Arizona near the Utah border. Lake Powell acts as a holding tank
for outflow from the Colorado River Upper Basin States: Colorado,
New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
The water stored in Lake Powell is used for recreation, power
generation and delivering water to the Lower Basin states of
California, Arizona, and Nevada.
Every five years the California Department of Water Resources
updates its strategic plan for managing the state’s water
resources, as required by state law.
The California Water Plan, or Bulletin 160, projects the
status and trends of the state’s water supplies and demands
under a range of future scenarios.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at hydraulic
fracturing, or “fracking,” in California. Much of the information
in the article was presented at a conference hosted by the
Groundwater Resources Association of California.
The connection between water and energy is more relevant than
ever. After existing in separate realms for years, the maxim that
it takes water to produce energy and energy to produce water has
prompted a re-thinking of management strategies, including an
emphasis on renewable energy use by water agencies.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at the energy
requirements associated with water use and the means by which
state and local agencies are working to increase their knowledge
and improve the management of both resources.
This printed issue of Western Water examines
desalination – an issue that is marked by great optimism and
controversy – and the expected role it might play as an
alternative water supply strategy.
This printed copy of Western Water examines climate change –
what’s known about it, the remaining uncertainty and what steps
water agencies are talking to prepare for its impact. Much of the
information comes from the October 2007 California Climate Change
and Water Adaptation Summit sponsored by the Water Education
Foundation and DWR and the November 2007 California Water Policy
Conference sponsored by Public Officials for Water and
Environmental Reform.
Hydropower generation is prevalent in the West, where rapidly
flowing river systems have been tapped for generations to produce
electricity. Hydropower is a clean, steady and reliable energy
source, but the damming of rivers has exacted a toll on the
environment, affecting, among other things, the migration of fish
to vestigial spawning grounds. Many of those projects are due to
be relicensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The California power crisis has made international headlines. But
what is the link between water and power in California? How is
the state’s dry spell affecting its hydropower generation? How
has the electric crisis affected water users in the state? These
questions and others are addressed in this issue of Western
Water.
