December 14th, 2025
Via Andy Masley, a thoughtful analysis of AI’s impact on water: AI data centers use water. Like any other industry that uses water, they require careful planning. If an electric car factory opens near you, that factory may use just as much water as a data center. The factory also requires careful planning. But the idea […]
Read more »Hydropower Is Getting Less Reliable as the World Needs More Energy
November 17th, 2025
Courtesy of The New York Times, a look at how demand for power is growing fast, but hydro plants, the oldest source of clean energy, are struggling because of droughts, floods and other extreme weather linked to climate change: On Brazil’s third-largest river basin, deep in the Amazon, a massive hydroelectric power plant stands as […]
Read more »November 5th, 2025
Via Circle of Blue, a look at the two-decade hydropower plunge at two large Coloardo River dams: Lakes Mead and Powell, the largest reservoirs on the Colorado River, do not just store water. Their dams, Hoover and Glen Canyon, also generate electricity. This hydropower drives irrigation pumps and fuels industries. It keeps the lights on […]
Read more »Why Fracking Firms Should Pay for a $100-Million Water Pipeline in Canada
November 3rd, 2025
Via The Tyee, a report on how – as Dawson Creek considers transferring drinking water from the Peace River – the province of British Columbia could make energy companies fund the project: The projected cost of a $100-million water pipeline stretching more than 50 kilometres from the Peace River to drought-stressed Dawson Creek is nearly five […]
Read more »June 24th, 2025
Via Circle of Blue, a report on how Lake Mead is shrinking, threatening a big drop in electricity from the Colorado River basin’s biggest dam: The long-term drying of the American Southwest poses a gathering and measurable threat to hydropower generation in the Colorado River basin. Should Lake Mead, the reservoir formed by Hoover Dam, continue […]
Read more »Gila River Tribes Intend to Float Solar Panels on a Reservoir. Could the Technology Help the Colorado River?
June 1st, 2025
Via Inside Climate News, a report on a plan by Gila River Tribes to float solar panels on a reservoir: On its surface, floating solar appears to conserve water while generating carbon-free electricity. River managers are cautious, but some say the West can’t afford to wait. About 33 miles south of Phoenix, Interstate 10 bisects […]
Read more »