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Also in the pic your provided the center literally sits on a river? Who cares? That means they likely are using their own water system meaning the people in the

Also in the pic your provided the center literally sits on a river? Who cares? That means they likely are using their own water system meaning the people in the city are completely isolated.

shagie 15d ago
The Columbia River has restrictions on diversions. https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_537.801 https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_537.801 > Therefore, the Legislative Assembly declares that the waters of the state may not be appropriated, stored or diverted for use outside the basin of origin except in compliance with the provisions of ORS 537.801 (Definitions) to 537.860 (Vested rights protected), including, if applicable, the prior approval of the Legislative Assembly under ORS 537.810 (Diversion or appropriation of waters from basin of origin without legislative consent prohibited). Evaporative cooling of a data center would constitute a diversion of the water outside of the Columbia River Basin. Furthermore, the river water rights aren't owned by the city (or the aluminum plant that Google bought). There are other treaties and regulations on the Columbia River to ensure that it has adequate supply for power and for fish. Google is using ground water rights and pulling. Furthermore, even though there's a river there, the area is in drought conditions. The supply of water percolating from the river into the groundwater isn't sufficient for human needs in that area. https://www.oregonwaterdata.org/datasets/94c6ec9b19de4ce6b7e05596d368971b_0/explore?location=45.407105%2C-121.162217%2C10 https://www.oregonwaterdata.org/datasets/94c6ec9b19de4ce6b7e... You can see that the groundwater in The Dalles has a status of "Critical". Citizens there have been under water restrictions for some time. https://www.thedalles.gov/news_detail_T4_R275.php https://www.thedalles.gov/news_detail_T4_R275.php > Voluntary water restrictions currently in place. https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/poor-snowpack-and-the-grasshopper-fire-spur-voluntary-water-restrictions-for-all-city-users-in/article_229ff801-2b6c-46a0-ba66-49bf03abe21d.html https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/poor-snowpack-and-the... > About 70-80% of the water consumed annually by residents and businesses in The Dalles comes from Crow Creek Reservoir. Fed by South Fork Mill Creek, Crow Creek and a pipeline that diverts flows from the Dog River, it held 123 million gallons on Sept. 4, roughly seven million gallons less than the same time last year. > While the situation isn’t dire, as Public Works Director Dale McCabe emphasized, it’s not normal. The city issued similar voluntary restrictions last summer after two of its now five groundwater wells went offline; where that was spurred by mechanical failures, however, the current advisory is a product of environmental factors. > “This is fairly new,” McCabe said. “I’m not remembering a period where we went into curtailment for quite some time before this.” --- Note that "it held 123 million gallons on Sept. 4, roughly seven million gallons less than the same time last year" in context of Google's use of water in 2025: "Google’s data centers gulped down nearly 550 million gallons of water in The Dalles in 2025." Those are different numbers (current reservoir amount and total use) ... but its something that people will compare.

Also in the pic your provided the center literally sits on a river? Who cares? That means they likely are using their own water system meaning the people in the city are completely isolated.

shagie 15d ago

The Columbia River has restrictions on diversions. https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_537.801 https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_537.801 > Therefore, the Legislative Assembly declares that the waters of the state may not be appropriated, stored or diverted for use outside the basin of origin except in compliance with the provisions of ORS 537.801 (Definitions) to 537.860 (Vested rights protected), including, if applicable, the prior approval of the Legislative Assembly under ORS 537.810 (Diversion or appropriation of waters from basin of origin without legislative consent prohibited). Evaporative cooling of a data center would constitute a diversion of the water outside of the Columbia River Basin. Furthermore, the river water rights aren't owned by the city (or the aluminum plant that Google bought). There are other treaties and regulations on the Columbia River to ensure that it has adequate supply for power and for fish. Google is using ground water rights and pulling. Furthermore, even though there's a river there, the area is in drought conditions. The supply of water percolating from the river into the groundwater isn't sufficient for human needs in that area. https://www.oregonwaterdata.org/datasets/94c6ec9b19de4ce6b7e05596d368971b_0/explore?location=45.407105%2C-121.162217%2C10 https://www.oregonwaterdata.org/datasets/94c6ec9b19de4ce6b7e... You can see that the groundwater in The Dalles has a status of "Critical". Citizens there have been under water restrictions for some time. https://www.thedalles.gov/news_detail_T4_R275.php https://www.thedalles.gov/news_detail_T4_R275.php > Voluntary water restrictions currently in place. https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/poor-snowpack-and-the-grasshopper-fire-spur-voluntary-water-restrictions-for-all-city-users-in/article_229ff801-2b6c-46a0-ba66-49bf03abe21d.html https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/poor-snowpack-and-the... > About 70-80% of the water consumed annually by residents and businesses in The Dalles comes from Crow Creek Reservoir. Fed by South Fork Mill Creek, Crow Creek and a pipeline that diverts flows from the Dog River, it held 123 million gallons on Sept. 4, roughly seven million gallons less than the same time last year. > While the situation isn’t dire, as Public Works Director Dale McCabe emphasized, it’s not normal. The city issued similar voluntary restrictions last summer after two of its now five groundwater wells went offline; where that was spurred by mechanical failures, however, the current advisory is a product of environmental factors. > “This is fairly new,” McCabe said. “I’m not remembering a period where we went into curtailment for quite some time before this.” --- Note that "it held 123 million gallons on Sept. 4, roughly seven million gallons less than the same time last year" in context of Google's use of water in 2025: "Google’s data centers gulped down nearly 550 million gallons of water in The Dalles in 2025." Those are different numbers (current reservoir amount and total use) ... but its something that people will compare.