The Rundown
*The Federal Water Tap will be on summer break starting next week. The weekly briefing will resume on August 17.*
- U.S. Supreme Court takes up another interstate water dispute, this time between Nebraska and Colorado over the South Platte River.
- EPA releases a short guidance document for reducing risk of PFAS in biosolids, while also criticizing a Biden-era risk assessment as too focused on high-risk scenarios.
- Water bills in Congress address transboundary aquifers, water infrastructure for firefighting, tribal resource concerns, and data centers.
- Colorado River deadline is pushed to the end of July.
And lastly, a USDA report outlines changes in manure management in the U.S. hog industry.
“America must win the AI race, but working families should not be forced to subsidize it. No data center should be forced on a local community. And if a massive new data center needs new power plants, transmission lines, grid upgrades, or water infrastructure, it should pay its own way.” – Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) in a press release announcing legislation that would require data center developers to pay the cost of water and energy infrastructure. The bill includes tax credits for data centers using recycled water.
By the Numbers
3.3 Million: Acres burned by wildfire in the U.S. so far in 2026, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The 10-year annual average is 7.1 million acres burned. Today, July 6, there is a high fire risk in the Intermountain West due to lightning strikes.
News Briefs
EPA Biosolids Guidance
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released draft guidance for reducing risk from PFAS in treated sewage sludge that is spread on land.
Biosolids, as the sludge is known in the industry, are used as fertilizer on farmland and golf courses. Sixty percent of treated sewage sludge is spread on land – a comparatively cheap disposal method for wastewater utilities compared to landfills or incineration.
Still, biosolids contain traces of hundreds of chemicals, including PFAS. The EPA sets treatment standards for just nine contaminants, all heavy metals.
The draft guidance criticizes a Biden-era EPA risk assessment as focusing too heavily on high-risk scenarios.
The new EPA guidance is concise, comprising only three of the document’s nine pages. It suggests not spreading biosolids near fishing areas or near sources of drinking water. It also suggests not spreading biosolids on land where children under 5 have access. For utilities, it recommends understanding PFAS sources in wastewater and eliminating those.
Farmers in Texas have sued over PFAS in biosolids. They allege that PFAS contaminated their fields or herds, causing financial ruin. Due to PFAS concerns, Maine in 2022 became the first state to ban the land application of biosolids.
EPA is taking public comments on the draft guidance through September 4. Submit them via www.regulations.gov using docket number EPA-HQ-OW-2026-2509.
In context: Fertilizer from Sewage, a Utility Money Maker, Faces Uncertain Future
Nebraska v. Colorado
Yet another interstate water case at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Just weeks after it signed off on an agreement between Texas and New Mexico over use of the Rio Grande, the high court is taking up another river dispute between neighbors.
Nebraska alleges that Colorado is violating the 1923 South Platte River Compact by allowing irrigators with junior rights to take more water than they are allowed.
The court will likely appoint a special master – a non-partisan lawyer – to oversee the case and recommend a resolution. That process could take years.
To access South Platte water, Nebraska wants to build the Perkins County Canal – infrastructure that would be located in Colorado but divert water to Nebraska.
The South Platte begins in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. Once in Nebraska, it meets the North Platte to form the Platte River, which flows eastward across Nebraska.
Water Bills in Congress
Data centers are drawing greater scrutiny, in a spectrum of intensities.
The most intense is a bill from 10 House Democrats to place a moratorium on AI data centers until the federal government exercises greater regulatory authority over AI. The bill also would require the Energy Department to report on the water use and wastewater discharges of AI data centers.
Less intense is a bill introduced by Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) that would require data centers to pay the cost of the water and energy infrastructure that serves the development. The bill also offers a 30 percent investment tax credit for data centers that incorporate recycled water.
On the technical side is a bipartisan bill that would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish procedures and standards for measuring data center water and energy use.
Other water-related bills in Congress include:
- The House released its version of the Water Resources Development Act, the biennial bill that authorizes Army Corps water infrastructure and ecosystem restoration projects. One provision in the bill would prohibit diversions of Missouri River water to a state outside the basin unless they are approved by all the basin governors.
- Bipartisan legislation in the Senate would allow tribes to propose areas of concern – soil erosion, groundwater pollution, etc – that would guide funding decisions under USDA conservation payment programs. A similar bill was already introduced in the House.
- Another bipartisan bill would amend the state revolving fund program to allow those dollars to be spent on fire suppression systems in rural areas that are at high risk of wildfire.
- Senators in Arizona and Texas introduced a bill to reauthorize a research program for aquifers that straddle the U.S.-Mexico border. A companion bill has been introduced in the House.
Studies and Reports
Manure Management in the U.S. Hog Industry
America’s 75 million hogs produce a lot of manure, and most of it is spread on farmland.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s economic research unit published a report on how manure is managed by hog producers. Manure is a leading polluter of the nation’s rivers, lakes, and groundwater.
Most producers, especially in the Midwest, use deep pits underneath the barn. In North Carolina, the third-biggest hog state, lagoons are more popular.
Some 68 percent of hog producers applied manure to farmland, continuing a gradual decrease since the late 1990s.
In context: Michigan’s New Manure Management Rules
On the Radar
Infrastructure Grant Deadline
FEMA is accepting applications for the $1 billion Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program through July 23.
The program for climate-resilient infrastructure was established in the first Trump administration but briefly cancelled in the second before a district court judge ruled the action was illegal.
Colorado River EIS
The Interior Department has said it will release the final environmental impact statement for operating the Colorado River’s big reservoirs by the end of July.
Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.
