The water isn't taxable that way based on western state water rights. https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/15/as-googles-water-demands-grow-the-dalles-aims-to-p

The water isn't taxable that way based on western state water rights. https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/15/as-googles-water-demands-grow-the-dalles-aims-to-pull-more-from-mount-hood-forest/ https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/15/as-googles-water-dema... > When Google purchased a defunct aluminum smelter in The Dalles, it also acquired the right to pump massive amounts of water from underground — up to 3.88 million gallons a day. That’s almost as much water as the entire city averaged per day in 2024. > The corporation transferred those water rights to the city in 2021, Bentz noted, allowing The Dalles to pump more water from underground. The city only obtained part, not all, of the former smelter’s water rights, Mays said after OPB’s story published. > But groundwater is limited — there is only so much available before it’s replenished by rain or snowmelt. Oregon is one of many states that have allocated more water rights than the earth can provide at once, causing groundwater wells for residents, farmers and other businesses to run dry — particularly in Eastern and Central Oregon. --- The water rights that Google retained are not taxable without redoing the entirety of the water rights laws for multiple states. Do water rights need to be revisited in today's climate conditions? Yes. We see it on the Colorado River... and on the Columbia River. But the law, as it stands today, if you've got the water rights that's not something that is taxable. And if you bought more senior water rights, you get to pump before someone else does.