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On the calendar today …
- PUBLIC HEARING: Model Water Efficient Landscaping Ordinance (MWELO) from 9am to 11am. The Department of Water Resources will conduct a public hearing to review the Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO). The purpose of this review of the MWELO is to determine whether an update to MWELO would be a useful or effective means to improve landscape water use efficiency or the administration of the ordinance. Comments will be considered for the three-year update cycle that begins January 1, 2026. This hearing will include a presentation on the history of MWELO and the most recent updates, topics identified for review, followed by an opportunity for public comment. The hearing will be recorded and will be webcast for Remote Participation: https://csus.zoom.us/meeting/register/X2vhNFReSvisP52pzWcrZA
In California water news today …
Companies are racing to fuel and cool AI
“If you haven’t noticed, data centers have been sprouting up all over. And they’re mighty thirsty. Inside these secured, windowless compounds, where servers hum and data never sleeps, AI systems guzzle millions of gallons of water (a single large data center can consume as much water as a town of 10,000 people, or even more) just to stay cool. In this new reality, no sector has escaped the lure of advanced tech: Faster processing! Smarter analytics! More data than ever! But every leap forward comes at a cost. For AI, it shows up on the utility bill: electricity to run the servers, and, in more and more cases, vast amounts of water to keep them from overheating. In a region like Sacramento, where the grid strains under demand and droughts loom, some critics, including Assemblymember Diane Papan, a Democrat from San Mateo, see data centers as hulking, water-hogging threats to local communities. … ”
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- Data centers for AI could nearly triple San Jose’s energy use. Who foots the bill?, from Cal Matters
- More than 200 environmental groups demand halt to new US datacenters, from The Guardian
Pine Flat Dam upgrade proposed to boost water storage in San Joaquin Valley
“State leaders are considering an “infrastructure upgrade” for the Pine Flat Dam in the San Joaquin Valley, aiming to address urgent water storage and protection needs. Congressman Vince Fong is spearheading a proposal to raise the dam’s spillway by 12 feet, which would increase its water capacity by over 100,000 acre-feet. “Water is critical to growing our food and so water storage is essential for us to have a stable water supply,” Fong said. … ”…