Two issues not yet mentioned:
- Google Cloud (and others, including plain Google) operate data centers in places like Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and New Mexico, all drought-stricken. These use 1-5 million gallons of water per day. Whether the record lows in the Great Salt Lake are connected or not, the optics are pretty bad. Gawds, people, wake up!
- Coal fired power plants have been draining the water from under New Mexico and Arizona for decades. They take the water from rivers–including the Colorado–and from aquifers under the reservation and use it to make power for LA, PHX, Vegas, etc., while leaving the pollution for the natives (literally, Navajos). This is on the order of 125-190 million gallons of water daily in the Southwest alone. Coal uses 500 - 600 gal per MWh in closed-loop systems and 20,000 - 50,000 gal per MWh in open-loop systems. Ironically, those cities’ power use plays a major role in their existing and impending water shortages.
