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.
Data centers are popping up around the United States, and in
more arid areas like Colorado, experts say the huge complexes
should come with a warning label when it comes to water use.
… The boom in data centers is already raising concerns
about ripple effects in other industries, including agriculture
which is the largest water user in Colorado. … On-site
water use at data centers in five Western states — Arizona,
Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah — might grow by about
21,600 acre-feet by 2035. But if you count off-site water use
by power plants, a data center’s total water use balloons to
over 89,700 by 3025.
The No Desert Data Center Coalition filed a lawsuit last week
against Pima County in southern Arizona for approving a land
sale and rezoning request from a data center developer — just
the latest move in the battle over data centers amid
water concerns in Arizona. … Local
opposition to data centers in Tucson, a Democratic stronghold,
Marana, a conservative-leaning district, and Chandler, a
Republican suburb, suggests bipartisan consensus over concerns
of water scarcity and rising energy costs. … Beale
Infrastructure, the data center developer, said the data
centers will be air-cooled instead of using millions of gallons
of water to “wash” the heat away from servers. But the
trade-off in this case is a massive energy draw in an already
strained region.
Developers in Arizona are planning to build a $10 billion data
center next to Horseshoe Bend, an iconic viewpoint
along the Colorado River. The 500-acre parcel,
located a mile from Horseshoe Bend, was previously protected
for outdoor recreation. … A petition to stop the data
center’s construction has already netted over 1,800 signatures
as of this publication. The document cites concerns over water
consumption and contamination, pollution, and an “unsightly
blight that will detract from the scenic beauty.”
… These servers generate immense heat, and keeping them
cool requires a large amount of water, the bipartisan think
tank Environmental and Energy Study Institute writes.
… Arizonans are watching it [AI] transform their desertscape
firsthand, especially in newly-minted tech hubs like Phoenix,
where previously empty, dusty lots have turned into data
centers. But developers are clashing with neighbors who don’t
want them next door. Residents of this water-strained state
worry their wells will run dry. … AI uses water in two
primary ways: on-site for cooling computer servers and off-site
at the power plants that provide data centers with electricity.
… In Arizona, a hotter climate that relies on intensive
cooling, facilities processing GPT-3 requests used the same
amount of water as in a 17-ounce water bottle per 16 queries,
more than the national average.
Democrats in Congress are demanding that the Trump
administration investigate a top official at the Interior
Department who is accused of violating ethics standards with a
$3.5 million water deal for a Nevada lithium
mine. In a Tuesday letter to the Office of the Inspector
General, Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Maxine Dexter,
D-Ore., referenced new evidence that they feel could implicate
Karen Budd-Falen, the Interior Department’s third in command.
The House Committee on Natural Resources and Subcommittee on
Oversight and Investigations ranking members are focused on the
Budd-Falen family’s water sale to the controversial
Thacker Pass lithium mine in Northern Nevada in 2018.
A novel idea to both conserve water and generate power surfaced
on Capitol Hill earlier this month. Rep. Hoang Nguyen, D-Salt
Lake City, joined representatives with Utah-based Water Wise
Solar Solutions, advocating for floating solar panels across
Utah water bodies. The panels could help slow evaporation on
lakes and reservoirs while also supplementing the grid with
some much-needed electricity, Nguyen said. … The company
seeks not just to conserve water with solar panels, which could
shade waterbodies from the summer heat, but to conserve land
for other economic and environmental uses other than sprawling
solar farms.
… The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Monday proposed
plans to open nearly 2 million acres of land from Santa Barbara
to the Bay Area for oil drilling and fracking. … An
analysis from the Central Coast field office would allow new
drilling in Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Benito, San
Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Fresno, Merced and San Joaquin
counties. It found “minor” and “minimal” impacts to regional
air quality and water resources, as well as to
five newly listed endangered
species in the area including the foothill
yellow-legged frog, western spadefoot toad and northwestern
pond turtle. … “This proposal puts some of the Central
Coast’s most cherished public lands, beaches and
drinking water sources directly in the
crosshairs of expanded fossil fuel development,” said Jeff
Kuyper, executive director of Los Padres ForestWatch.
California’s single-largest solar energy project is scheduled
to come up for a vote next month by the Kern County Planning
Commission before going on for final consideration by the Board
of Supervisors. Proposed by San Diego-based developer Avantus,
the nearly 12,000-acre Buttonbush Solar and Storage project
would generate 2 gigawatts of electricity. … [Avantus Vice
President of Development Kevin] Brokish noted the project was
initiated in 2019 in an area where land is being pulled out of
production because of pumping limits imposed by California’s
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
Out in the fertile yet water-constrained farmlands of
California’s western Central Valley, a massive solar,
battery, and power grid project that could provide
a quarter of the state’s clean energy needs by 2035 has
taken a critical step forward. In December, the board of
directors of the Westlands Water District, the agency that
manages water delivery to more than 600,000 acres in
California’s agricultural heartland, approved the Valley Clean
Infrastructure Plan. VCIP calls for building up to
21 gigawatts of solar energy and an equivalent amount of
battery storage across up to 136,000 acres, along with
a series of high-voltage transmission lines to connect the
electricity generated to the state’s grid.
Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing LLC has filed a civil
rights lawsuit in the United States District Court, Southern
District of California, against the city of Imperial and
several senior officials, according to a press release from
IVCM. The litigation alleges a coordinated campaign of
administrative obstruction and targeted retaliation designed to
derail a permitted $10 billion AI data center project.
… The lawsuit further charges that the city sabotaged a
critical environmental initiative. The developer had secured an
agreement to purchase reclaimed water, treat it, and
release 5.25 million gallons of fresh water daily into
the Salton Sea watershed.
The fastest‑growing piece of America’s artificial intelligence
infrastructure is colliding with one of its most finite local
resources: water. As utilities, state regulators, and local
governments rush to accommodate a surge in data‑center
construction driven by AI and cloud computing, water is
emerging as a constraint that few permitting systems were
designed to manage. … In 2023, U.S. data centers
consumed an estimated 17 billion gallons of water, according to
federal and industry analyses compiled by the Energy Department
and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Hyperscale
facilities alone are projected to consume between 16 billion
and 33 billion gallons annually by 2028.
A vote last month by the Westlands Water District board to sign
off on the environmental impact report for a massive solar
project on Fresno County’s westside marked a major milestone in
the development of the Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan. … In
addition to generating much-needed electricity, VCIP could
boost Fresno County’s property tax revenues as well as
groundwater supplies. … VCIP will give Westlands and
private farm owners the opportunity to sell or lease land for
solar companies to develop. If Westlands sells land, it will
move onto property tax rolls and boost tax revenues for Fresno
County. … Westlands plans to retain small pockets within
sold parcels for drill sites to pump water into the ground
instead of pumping it out.
As Californians break out umbrellas for a rainy holiday,
specialized crews are gearing up to fly their planes directly
into the winter’s incoming atmospheric rivers. … This winter,
leading climate institutions including UC San Diego’s Scripps
Institution of Oceanography are ramping up a research program
that uses the planes to monitor atmospheric rivers —
the ribbons of water vapor in the sky that can drop up
to half of California’s annual precipitation. A goal
of the effort, announced Tuesday, is to improve forecasts from
the current one-week advanced storm warnings to more like two
weeks. … For California, improved forecasts not only
offer residents more time to plan for rain and snow, but the
warning can also make a big difference for reservoir
management in the state.
The training and use of artificial-intelligence systems such as
ChatGPT might already result in more annual carbon emissions
than New York City and more water consumption than all the
bottled water drank globally, according to new research. In one
of the first studies to focus specifically on the environmental
impact of AI, a new report in the data-science journal Patterns
estimated that the technology’s water consumption in particular
was likely far higher than previous estimates. The study
indicates that both AI’s carbon emissions and its water
consumption are growing rapidly, thanks to its surging power
use.
*IMPORTANT* In anticipation of high demand, the Foundation is limiting tickets to a maximum of 2 per organization. Contact Programs Director Nick Gray via email with any questions.
Explore 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 is 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 lower Colorado River has virtually every drop 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, 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
This event 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.
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.
This tour 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 is the focus of this tour.
Silverton Hotel
3333 Blue Diamond Road
Las Vegas, NV 89139
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 three-day, two-night tour 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 is the focus of this tour.
Best Western McCarran Inn
4970 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119
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 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an
excellent overview of the history of water development and use in
California. It includes sections on flood management; the state,
federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water
rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for
stretching the water supply such as water marketing and
conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a
section on the human need for water.
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.
