Residents of England have been advised to delete old emails and pictures to save water, a directive issued during a "nationally significant incident" of drought. The advice stems from the fact that data centers consume massive amounts of water for cooling while England has experienced its driest six months since 1976.
This call for digital conservation comes as the United States anticipates a boom in the construction of AI data centers, which are particularly water-intensive. A single Google data center in Oregon, for example, used over 355 million gallons of water in 2021.
Brooklyn Man Loses Home Over Unpaid Water Bill
A Brooklyn homeowner is at risk of losing his home after it was foreclosed on and sold due to an unpaid $5,000 water bill from 2019 that he claims he never knew about. The city's practice of selling delinquent bills to a trust of investors led to the foreclosure and auction of his paid-off home, valued at $800,000.
In response, a coalition of local and state lawmakers, including the NYC Public Advocate, held a rally in support of the homeowner and called for an investigation into the matter. Lawmakers are also crafting new legislation to improve notifications and prevent homeowners from losing their property over unpaid water bills.
States Face Colorado River Cuts for Third Straight Year
The Bureau of Reclamation has announced that Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will face significant cuts to their Colorado River water allotments for the third consecutive year. The decision was based on a new study showing that Lake Mead will remain in a "Level 1 Shortage Condition," a designation that triggers water reductions under existing domestic and binational agreements.
This announcement comes as the seven Colorado River Basin states are locked in intense negotiations over new long-term management guidelines, which are set to expire in 2026. Key disagreements persist between the Upper and Lower Basin states on how to share future cuts.
