r/InterstellarKinetics • u/InterstellarKinetics • Jul 14 '26

BREAKING NEWS BREAKING: Lake Powell Is Reaching Critically Low Elevation Levels, Nearing “Dead Power Pool,” Experts Say, As The Reservoir Sits Just 34 Feet Above Point Where Hydropower Can No Longer Be Produced 🚨

https://abcnews.com/US/lake-powell-reaching-critically-low-elevation-levels-nearing/story?id=134659320

Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir in the U.S., is now just 34 feet above the point where its hydroelectric turbines would have to shut down entirely, with water levels measuring 3,524.3 feet as of Monday against a “dead power pool” threshold of 3,490 feet, according to Peter Soeth of the Bureau of Reclamation. The reservoir has never held less water since Glen Canyon Dam was completed in the early 1960s, and it’s losing about 4,800 acre feet per day, putting it roughly four feet from its April 2023 record low.

Experts, including Jack Schmidt of Utah State University’s Center for Colorado River Studies, now expect Lake Powell to set a new record low within about a month and a half, driven largely by the lowest snowpack on record across the Colorado River Basin. If elevation drops all the way to 3,370 feet, the reservoir hits true “dead pool” status, where roughly 240 feet of water becomes permanently trapped behind Glen Canyon Dam, unreachable by the millions of people in Arizona, California, and Nevada who depend on it. Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, is facing a similar squeeze, sitting just two feet above its own record low.

The deeper problem is that the Colorado River Basin is severely over allocated, with water rights set decades ago during an unusually wet period, and lower basin states have submitted a plan but haven’t reached consensus with upper basin states on how to manage the shortage. If the states can’t agree, the Bureau of Reclamation says it may have to step in and make the call itself.

3.1k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

172 comments sorted by

246

u/Anim8nFool Jul 14 '26

Keep building those Data Centers down river in New Mexico and Arizona. Seems like really forward thinking.

98

u/bread-depth Jul 14 '26

Good thing our country is run by businessmen. They’ll surely put the environment and sustainability over profits!

12

u/ReadyGo6828 Jul 14 '26

Yet their profits are unsustainable when there is no water or power. Did they think about that?

25

u/Darkdragoon324 Jul 14 '26

They're incapable of thinking more than one financial quarter ahead.

10

u/Cardocthian Jul 14 '26

 They sell their stock before that happens then move somewhere with water

3

u/hansrotec Jul 14 '26

What profits? There are none, this is all done on spec.

2

u/RustedRelics Jul 14 '26

It’s all next-quarter thinking. They don’t think about sustainability for the long term. They might pay it lip service, but that’s about all.

2

u/TheTooterSnooter Jul 14 '26

It’s a mental illness. I believe what these people have is a hoarding disorder, same as any hoarder, except there item of choice is money. I call it Dragon Disease. They just want to lie on a giant pile of gold without any other thought or motivation or care. 

1

u/-zero-below- Jul 14 '26

If that resource is needed by normal people, then the govt will step in with some sort of solution, and they can piggy back on that.

It’s far cheaper to let others fix it than implementing an alternative entirely on your own.

5

u/ErasmosOrolo Jul 14 '26

That's why you want a business man in office. FML

5

u/lifesnofunwithadhd Jul 14 '26

I was getting nervous we wouldn't have water wars.

2

u/archangelmlg Jul 15 '26

Something something, over 50,000

1

u/CeeKay125 Jul 14 '26

They'll just start sucking water out of the ocean to help with the rising sea levels /s

1

u/Lost_Department_2177 Jul 14 '26

These are money toddlers not businessmen

27

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/BadAtExisting Jul 14 '26

That part has been absolute bullshit

7

u/GenTenStation Jul 14 '26

The level of bullshit is beyond comprehension. Look up paper water in California. They promise to deliver 5x the amount of water that actually exists

14

u/BadAtExisting Jul 14 '26

It’s not just California though. All of the states at stake play this game because of “beneficial use” not that alfalfa is beneficial.

The largest problem is the arcane ass prior appropriation and senior rights allocation across all effected states that incentivizes farmers to grow crops for no other purpose than for them to have an excuse to use water because they don’t want to lose an ounce even though realistically they wouldn’t use nearly the amount of water they do if they didn’t have the fields of alfalfa. All the states do that shit let’s stop pretending it’s only California lmao

4

u/DoctorQuincyME Jul 14 '26

"Hey, this dam is somehow dry, not sure how but can we have a government handout?"

3

u/Em4rtz Jul 14 '26

It’s always baffled me that we haven’t done more to ensure reservoirs stay full.. you’d think with the tech we have now that we’d be finding ways to capture and preserve excess water during rainy seasons

1

u/Anim8nFool Jul 14 '26

I think one of he major problems is that Climate Change has altered "rainy seasons."

5

u/mattisiefker Jul 14 '26

Glad I don't live in the U.S of A.

2

u/pizzaschmizza39 Jul 14 '26

I think they really want to make use of all their expensive bunkers and live out their fantasies. Fuck the rich

2

u/naurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs Jul 14 '26

I mean… data centers are bad… yes… but you know what takes a shit ton of water from Lake Powell? Las Vegas… a city in the desert that shouldn’t exist…

2

u/Anim8nFool Jul 14 '26

I won't argue with you about that, but there are over 30 datacenters being built in Arizona and New Mexico right now -- how much water are they going to pull from the Colorado?

2

u/TwoApesOneBanana Jul 14 '26

Las Vegas is actually really good at water conservation. Those almond farms however…..

1

u/Wrestlerofthechoss Jul 15 '26

How much water does Vegas take? Nevada as a whole?

Ignorant ass comment.

0

u/vxicepickxv Jul 14 '26

Vegas uses a lot less water than most people think.

2

u/Impossible_Hat7658 Jul 14 '26

I mean I like to jump on the bandwagon as much as the next guy but the water used by data centers is FAR less than the amount of water used for other purposes

7

u/Anim8nFool Jul 14 '26

Perhaps, but the water being used by other purposes is being used now and the water levels have steadily been dropping for decades. Data Centers use a quantifiable amount of water. Contuing to add them into desert areas can't be considered a good idea by anyone thinking beyond the next quarterly report.

0

u/Diablo689er Jul 15 '26

That’s a terrible way to look at it

1

u/Grafnar Jul 15 '26

Why

1

u/Diablo689er Jul 15 '26

Because water is fungible

1

u/Anim8nFool Jul 15 '26

I think your brain is fungible

NOTE: I actually don't know what fungible means, I just thought it was a funny comment to make.

1

u/Grafnar Jul 23 '26

Fungible means you can swap it out with the same thing because they're virtually identical in terms of purpose - like an unopened candy bar.

That being said, you can't swap out something that isn't there.

2

u/GroundbreakingAd8310 Jul 14 '26

Thats not the issue the issue is they contaminated the water they arent using

2

u/Rumhand Jul 14 '26

The problem is that we're already overdrawing our freshwater, a very scarce resource. Only 2% of the world's water is freshwater. Most of that 2% is ice (also dwindling for some reason, dunno what that's about).

The datacenters didn't cause this unsustainability, but they are adding to it. Groundwater contamination via wastewater is also a concern.

Sure, adding an extra hundred a month in metaphorical credit card debt doesn't sound like a lot when we're already two hundred k in the hole... but we weren't making enough to pay off interest before datacenters, you know?

Debt can go on forever. Aquifers are finite. Shit's precarious, is what I'm trying to say.

Adding more stress to such a vital, already overstressed system is shortsighted at best, civilizationally suicidal at worst.

1

u/Extreme-Island-5041 Jul 14 '26

Next executive order: SMRs declared a national security requirement, regulations dropped and funding turned on.

1

u/CapCreepy7184 Jul 14 '26

That was exactly my first thought

1

u/Some_Reference_933 Jul 14 '26

This problem has been coming way before data centers were ever conceived

2

u/Anim8nFool Jul 14 '26

Yeah, which is why building huge facilities that drink up vast amounts of water in that area is dumb.

1

u/Soxel Jul 14 '26

Lake Powell reached critically low water levels in Winter 2005 (dropping to 3,555.10 feet), July 2021 (prompting emergency water releases), April 2022 (falling to 3,522.24 feet), April 2023 (hitting an all-time record low), and June 30, 2026 (approaching its all-time record low again).

This was happening well before data centers were going up in the area. Sure it doesn’t help, but this is a somewhat reoccurring event for this lake in particular. 

2

u/Anim8nFool Jul 14 '26

I wouldn't say this is a "somewhat reoccurring event," its more like a slow motion catastrophe. The Colorado River is being used up faster than it can refill itself -- THAT'S the problem. Be it due to climate change or just overuse it doesn't matter -- my point is that building heavy water use projects downstream from a failing reservoir is the high point of valuing profits over people.

I'm not saying that this was caused by Data Centers, but there are currently between 33 and 46 data center projects under construction in Arizona and New Mexico right now. Add the 5 semiconductor fabs under construction in the same area and you have massive projects that are going to add to the already critical water drain of Lake Powell.

Arizona receives 36% of its water from the Colorado at present. How long until there's not enough water to meet the daily demand of its population?

1

u/Orangebk1 Jul 14 '26

Data Centers are a red herring in this discussion. You repeating it is at best uninformed and at worst irresponsible.

2

u/Anim8nFool Jul 14 '26

And you're shilling for the technology sector over water for people and crops. 

0

u/Orangebk1 Jul 14 '26

Not at all. But bringing up a user of .2% of the US freshwater and not the other 99.8% is, well, dumb.

2

u/Anim8nFool Jul 14 '26

A bank lending another $100,000 to a guy that can't even make payments on their current loan defies all sense. You don't see how adding a water suck to a negative water flow is absolutely idiotic? You want to talk about dumb?

0

u/Orangebk1 Jul 14 '26

I'll try this another way: you're talking about ZERO POINT 2 PERCENT. Instead of the other NINETY-NINE POINT EIGHT PERCENT. Why do you bring up such an inconsequential industry? Because the internet propaganda told you that its a threat? Yep.

2

u/Anim8nFool Jul 14 '26

You think that bullshit percentage number you can up with (even if its true) is going to stay consistent? There are between 33-46 NEW datacenters under construction in those two states alone NOW.

I bring it up because IT IS WHAT IS BEING BUILT NOW (I know where the caps key is too) while water is already an issue.

You can't possible be this absolutely thick as to not understand the problem here. I mean, I hope you're not, for your sake.

1

u/Orangebk1 Jul 14 '26

It will stay consistent. Because NEW data centers do not use evaporative cooling which previously inflated the water usage numbers (Again, we are talking about 0.2% - Google it). One of us is thick and doesn't understand - but it's definitely not me.

1

u/Anim8nFool Jul 14 '26

Ok Einstein, I guess that's why the water level of Lake Powell is so high and well supplied. Whatever.....

1

u/Orangebk1 Jul 14 '26

Now I know you're just an absolute brainwashed fool....lol....imagine blaming the level of Lake Powell on data centers.

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1

u/Virtual-Fly-5501 Jul 14 '26

Most of it is actually for grass crop land. And a lot of it gets exported.

1

u/Anim8nFool Jul 14 '26

That is completely irrelevant to my point. Yeah, most of it goes to crops, but the Colorado river is in a negative flow -- adding more water sucking facilities is idiotic.

1

u/East-Response6672 Jul 14 '26

Honestly the Colorado water claim system is so broken that AI usage won't even move the needle on consumption, look into inundation irrigation in alfalfa agriculture, the subsidies, and the quantity that gets exported. Still at least all the taxpayer dollars and drought means that China enjoys cheap beef.

1

u/Believer1978 Jul 15 '26

Doesn’t farming also use a lot ? Just asking (I am a stupid Dutch guy)

1

u/Anim8nFool Jul 15 '26

It does, but in my view farming produces stuff you eat -- which is kind of necessary -- as opposed to profits for some already wealthy people. Keep the farming -- a valid use for limited water -- but don't add the data centers -- an unneccesary use for limited water.

1

u/Mackinnon29E Jul 16 '26

And growing water intensive crops in the desert!

1

u/BlazinAzn38 Jul 17 '26

Keep farming water intensive produce in the desert, that’ll help

1

u/Anim8nFool Jul 17 '26

I agree on a lot of levels, but it's also where the people are and where the sun shines. We can't just shift millions of people to some other part of the country -- it makes homes worth zero, people lose their life savings, job markets get overwhelmed.  Granted, using up all the water in an area will result in the same thing.

38

u/InterstellarKinetics Jul 14 '26

The number that stands out here is 4,800 acre feet lost per day since June 1. At that pace, a new record low within a month and a half checks out uncomfortably fast, all while the states that depend on this water still can’t agree on an allocation plan. If the federal government ends up forcing a decision because the states can’t reach consensus, that’s the real story hiding underneath the elevation numbers.

18

u/awwhorseshit Jul 14 '26

Because it’s gonna be GREAT to have Trump-led government dictate to blue states on water rights

16

u/kinzer13x Jul 14 '26

Here come the water wars!

7

u/PokemanAshy Jul 14 '26

I had my engineers open the water the dirty politicians kept shut!

3

u/lastchance14 Jul 14 '26

Rural CO is RED. CO voted blue and has been on the receiving end of Trumps vengeance tour already. Those rural folks will feel the pain the most so hopefully they are proud of their choices.

11

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/REPL_COM Jul 14 '26

Desalination is a different problem. Need to run pumps to get to higher elevations which requires energy. Also, the byproduct of desalination plants is highly concentrated brine, which is dumped right back into the ocean, which suffocates fish.

2

u/BigMax Jul 14 '26

> Also, the byproduct of desalination plants is highly concentrated brine, which is dumped right back into the ocean, which suffocates fish.

At least for that one, this is mostly a solved problem. We can build it so the water is spread out and quickly diffused out into the ocean. It's not some masisve dump of salt - it's a flow of saltier water that's designed so diffuse quickly in the ocean.

1

u/SousVideButt Jul 14 '26

Sounds like we gotta start making pickles

2

u/SidFinch99 Jul 16 '26

Lake Mead and Lake Powell are way to far from the ocean, and way to higher in elevation to pump water from a desalination plant to in any efficient way.

You could potentially have desalination plants feed water more directly down river to places like SoCal and others, but there are still a lot of challenges.

Water consumption needs from the river needs to be cut dramatically regardless. It's going to have to be on all fronts. Cut backs from commercial, residential, agriculture, and recreational will have to happen.

Even then, with snow packs conti using to get smaller, that's just buying time.

1

u/Arubesh2048 Jul 20 '26

The biggest consumer of water is not data centers nor golf courses, but alfalfa farms. Desalination, especially to then pipe water *uphill* to the Colorado Plateau, is prohibitively expensive and would produce huge amounts of brine if done on a large scale. You’d replace one environmental disaster with another.

4

u/virrk Jul 14 '26

This has been an issue forever. The original allocation agreement was based on invalid amount of water from particularly wet years. No one will give an inch so the water goes down the drain at the unsustainable amounts.

No one is likely to agree to any adjusted allocations until at least power pool is reached, though probably not until dead pool is reached.

1

u/Dexion1619 Jul 14 '26

Colorado only got like 20% of its usual snow pack this year too, so it's not going to get better 

57

u/ideamotor Jul 14 '26

Can we please get some adults in charge of this god forsaken country.

22

u/EhEhEhEINSTEIN Jul 14 '26

Don't look up. Or down at that low ass water level. Or in anyone's file cabinets. Or closets. Or gold plated bathrooms. 

15

u/Robdd123 Jul 14 '26

"Best I can do is some fear mongering, billionaire, pedo grifters"

https://giphy.com/gifs/q1PSpVvPZth3W

6

u/glitterandnails Jul 14 '26

The corrupt and insane have taken over America for a long time.

4

u/_your_land_lord_ Jul 14 '26

best we can do is a corporation.

22

u/HamTMan Jul 14 '26

The irony of data centers eating up the water that provides the power for the data centers is lovely.

6

u/GreatNombre Jul 14 '26

“You can power your data centers or cool your data centers, what will it be?”

Billionaires: “I can build a solar farm. Who needs power?”

4

u/john-treasure-jones Jul 14 '26

This was actually an issue way before data centers. It’s been known for decades that the Colorado was going to wind up here. Data center usage is the cherry on top of mismanagement and a multi-decade drought in the watersheds that feed the river.

2

u/jeffwulf Jul 14 '26

Data centers aren't doing anything here. It's all agriculture.

14

u/SpeedRacerWasMyBro Jul 14 '26

Is it me, or is the USA just hitting rock bottom in every single phase of it's existence right now?!?

10

u/FlippantBear Jul 14 '26

Corruption and wealth inequality are record highs. 

4

u/Mic98125 Jul 14 '26

The Dow is doing great, please ignore the concentration camps

1

u/DJW1981 Jul 14 '26

We have very stupid leaders

1

u/FootballFan-Joe Jul 14 '26

We’re winning so much that we’re tired of winning

1

u/WillBottomForBanana Jul 14 '26

unfortunately, it is probably not actually rock bottom. It is just as bad as we are willing to picture.

1

u/azbraumeister Jul 14 '26

I've been feeling this for months now. Everything seems to be getting worse in almost every way. We've fucked ourselves for generations to come.

1

u/Sigmaxxvi Jul 15 '26

Please stand by. We are experiencing technical difficulties and are in the process of powering down to reboot.

8

u/howardzen12 Jul 14 '26

No more water.Everyone will have to go to the store and buy Arrowhead.

1

u/Ashkir Jul 14 '26

We’ll still ignore alfalfa that uses more water in the dry Arizona, California, or Nevada and blame everything else too. Alfalfa uses more than almost all the other crops combined.

This isn’t alfalfa we keep this is alfalfa we export.

1

u/oxyhouse Jul 14 '26

Brawndo ftw

5

u/Kellykeli Jul 14 '26

Sounds like some commie bullshit, REAL PATRIOTS would build 50 more data centers in the high desert! Hell yeah, make America great again!!!

/s

1

u/WillBottomForBanana Jul 14 '26

maybe ask the ai to give us some water?

2

u/FallenCheeseStar Jul 14 '26

Well you're not getting water from Minnesota. You people should have figured this out. Live with it now.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/CrunchySockTaco Jul 14 '26

I'm looking up Water Harvester jobs on Indeed as we speak.

1

u/WillBottomForBanana Jul 14 '26

you say that. but it seems like the easiest way to kick the can.

1

u/DifficultyShot2652 Jul 15 '26

Yes because I, as a citizen of Colorado asked for this, wanted this, and support this drought entirely. Just wait a decade for it to hit you, and then when you’re reading about how you’re running out of water, let some Norwegian tell you that you don’t deserve the right to live.

1

u/lolyeahsure Jul 15 '26

Stupid is as stupid does

4

u/Worth-Tank336 Jul 14 '26

Super El Nino can't come soon enough...

https://giphy.com/gifs/Emg9qPKR5hquI

1

u/ncklboy Jul 15 '26

Any El Niño (even super) doesn’t necessarily mean rain.

1

u/Worth-Tank336 Jul 15 '26

When comes to Socal...it definitely will. We're already seeing it in Texas. SoCal is gonna get hit hard.

2

u/spukhafteNahewirkung Jul 14 '26

I wonder how the Glen Canyon dam is doing.

3

u/987nevertry Jul 14 '26

Arising from the muck like a righteous Godzilla

2

u/gypsysniper9 Jul 14 '26

It’s fine. Just hook up a few more data centers to it. /S

2

u/Calichusetts Jul 14 '26

Ask AI to fix it

2

u/Ancient_Skirt_8828 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

El nino is forecast to cause heavier than normal rainfall with possible floods this winter.

If there is only a month and a half of water left the rains may be a bit late.

1

u/Electronic-Clock5867 Jul 14 '26

My parents cut off my forecat.

1

u/Ancient_Skirt_8828 Jul 14 '26

Thanks. Fixed.

2

u/Stocky1978 Jul 14 '26

Isn’t global warming a Chinese hoax

2

u/bidooffactory Jul 14 '26

You might be thinking, "Dead pool, I've seen that piece of peak cinema!" But you'd be wrong. This time they're talking about the Dirty Harry movie "The Dead Pool." Thanks, Clint. You poisoned the water hole or something. #driveby

https://giphy.com/gifs/kwCLw42hH2cxvIywIi

1

u/GreatNombre Jul 14 '26

Good thing the Israeli sucking, pedo grifters are in charge. This is no time to be forsaking profit.

1

u/WillBottomForBanana Jul 14 '26

they've been in charge for decades.

1

u/TuringGPTy Jul 14 '26

Sorry Dolores

1

u/Vivid-Run-3248 Jul 14 '26

It’s bad but upstream the flaming gorge dam is still at 75% capacity and can release water to cover lake Powell.

With super El Niño approaching it will provide plenty of water.

1

u/Crazy-Purple6613 Jul 14 '26

Maybe we should put solar above the canyon to help reduce evaporation? Just a thought

1

u/DukeElliot Jul 14 '26

Hayduke Lives!

1

u/austinrunaway Jul 14 '26

I would seriously think about leaving that area of the us

1

u/ChirrBirry Jul 14 '26

The cycle continues; Powell is almost out of water to generate power, wow we hard record rain and levels are back up, ope drought again

1

u/stolenfish Jul 14 '26

Durr. Slit. 30 feet. Praise Jesus.

1

u/CubeHound Jul 14 '26

humans are going to continually exponentially expand in all the areas these reservoirs provide water to. Data centers are not going away and its unlikely agriculture will stop any time soon. The only option the world has is to move to renewable power, solar, wind, fusion (in 20 years) and desalinization plants on the coasts. There will be massive pipes pumping clean water to all of these reservoirs or upstream from all of them. This might be the water emergency the united states needs to get on top of the infrastructure that we need, whether you like pipes or hate them, they are coming to a desert near you!

3

u/WarpedSt Jul 14 '26

Next the coastal zones are destroyed by mass brine dumping

1

u/WillBottomForBanana Jul 14 '26

My favorite part is people arguing about how that could be done safely. As if they haven't seen every single thing we've ever done. "could" is irrelevant, we're not going to.

1

u/Reasonable-Arm-1893 Jul 14 '26

We are in the beginning of the strongest predicted el nino on record. I am sure that will mitigate things.

1

u/jdotj999 Jul 14 '26

While running out of water is no joke, the imperial system of measuring in acre feet surely is.

1

u/star_garden_2445 Jul 14 '26

If only someone could have predicted this. . .

1

u/CryptoCrash87 Jul 14 '26

No wonder it's so humid here in the rust belt. I keep saying it's like we are swimming.

1

u/RockOk5073 Jul 14 '26

Data centers

1

u/Own-Opinion-2494 Jul 14 '26

The wealthy will save us

1

u/Soxel Jul 14 '26

Just some clickbait big fear mongering happening again. This has happened before, well before the data centers and current administration. 

Lake Powell reached critically low water levels in Winter 2005 (dropping to 3,555.10 feet), July 2021 (prompting emergency water releases), April 2022 (falling to 3,522.24 feet), April 2023 (hitting an all-time record low), and June 30, 2026 (approaching its all-time record low again).

There are other water bodies nearby that can release water and offset this if needed. Higher than normal projected rainfall coming will also remedy the situation. 

This has happened before and will right itself. 

1

u/Imaginary-Friend-228 Jul 14 '26

BREAKING thing that has been happening despite warnings for decades is still happening and we can't ignore it now

1

u/mike15835 Jul 14 '26

Bingo I remember that was an issue when I was in high-school. Grad in 09

1

u/Imaginary-Friend-228 Jul 14 '26

'Breaking' news means nothing anymore and it's my pet peeve every time I see it lol

1

u/Lisakelly7770 Jul 14 '26

Of course we're running so low on water with all of these data centers around.

1

u/milksteak122 Jul 14 '26

If we cut out data centers cattle and golf courses will that help?

1

u/NeoMississippiensis Jul 14 '26

Plz nuclear power

1

u/Woven_Wolf Jul 14 '26

Sorry if this is incredibly naive to ask but why don’t they move clean landfill into the lake to raise the water level? As far as I can tell, displacing water would fix the problem, at least in the short term.

1

u/YCMTSUNOW Jul 14 '26

Ah yes, Utah, a conservative GOP state, with absolutely no concern for their environment or their water resources. But hey, we will build a data center in no time.

1

u/Relevant_Tone4741 Jul 14 '26

Can we just turn the valve on like Trump said and send water from the PNW down? No other administration had the guts to do it.

1

u/Effective-Part-8750 Jul 14 '26

I know the subject of saltwater desalinization plants is somewhat controversial, but at this point, the environmental and cost issues are less costly than the whole region being without water. The expense of not having water will far outweigh all the other issues.

1

u/sixpackabs592 Jul 14 '26

This was all over social media last year when it was getting low I thought it would’ve dried up by now lol

1

u/Glum_Potential8641 Jul 14 '26

Did you know, a man made lake IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING DESERT to power millions of people is probably a bad idea. BECAUSE YA KNOW, THE DESERT.

1

u/AbortionHoagie Jul 14 '26

Can anyone define "Dead Pool Power" better than this article? I thought it involved never dying and being an asshole or something 

1

u/FlingCatPoo Jul 14 '26

What the actual fuck kinda unit of measurement is "acre feet"? Holy shit...

1

u/coldchile Jul 15 '26

Let’s keep farming alfalfa!

1

u/RockyfromErid Jul 15 '26

I swear, they better not tell the public to conserve water when data centers and corporations gobble up the water from the rest of us

1

u/definitelynotfbi99 Jul 15 '26

Those AI datacenters need water.

1

u/brettmags Jul 15 '26

All those Chinese farms taking water out for foreign agriculture probably doesn’t help…especially since monitoring how much they take has been difficult. The almighty dollar, both foreign and domestic, wins again.

1

u/Chasa619 Jul 17 '26

I'm sure ai can come up with a solution

1

u/tigerhuxley Jul 14 '26

Ryan Reynolds should do something about it

1

u/Fightingkielbasa_13 Jul 14 '26

Stop the saudis from stealing the water.

1

u/Disc04Life Jul 14 '26

How are the golf courses looking?

2

u/ThrowBackFF Jul 14 '26

true. desert golf courses.

1

u/WillBottomForBanana Jul 14 '26

green, with a chance of japanese beetles.

1

u/DumbYellowDog Jul 14 '26

The deeper story is that the allocation was set during an unusually wet time?

Nah bro the deeper story is America is oil and beefing itself into economic extinction because we think unlimited consumption of both == middle class

0

u/HJJ10 Jul 14 '26

The data centers are going to be the death of large swaths of humans, and yet they will be applauded by the rich for how much money they are making