The Rundown
- Sen. Mike Lee of Utah threatens to withhold federal funds from states that sue over Colorado River water supplies.
- NOAA proposes redesigning drought outlook maps to include different colors and phrasing.
- NOAA determines that warming of the eastern Pacific indicates El Niño, which alters global weather, has arrived.
- Congressional Republicans ask the EPA to consider an abortion drug for future drinking water regulation.
And lastly, the EPA administrator says the agency won’t regulate data center water use.
“While we hear these stories of the worst-case data center that is most controversial and has the most amount of opposition, we might hear less about the data center that is following all the best practices. It is important, as more builds are getting done, that they are following those best practices, not the worst practices.” – Lee Zeldin, EPA administrator, speaking about data center regulation at Politico’s Energy Summit on June 10.
By the Numbers
19: Republican members of Congress who signed a letter asking the EPA to add a common abortion drug to the list of contaminants for potential future drinking water regulation. The senators and representatives asked that mifepristone be added to the Contaminant Candidate List, which is updated every five years. In April, the EPA published its latest draft update, which did not include mifepristone. The letter can be seen as opening another front in the Republican attempt to limit abortion access.
News Briefs
Colorado River Politicking
Tensions in the Colorado River basin were on display during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the status of water-sharing negotiations.
Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican who represents the upper basin state of Utah, threatened to withhold federal dollars if lower basin states sue over a breach of the legal agreement that divides the river.
“States that choose to sue their fellow basin states over Colorado River operations should not expect Congress to reward that decision with additional federal funding,” Lee said. “Federal taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize litigation among states.”
Lower basin states have positioned themselves for legal action. Arizona, after hiring a law firm for Colorado River issues, recently increased its legal fund to $9 million. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies water to the region’s largest cities, is also looking to increase its legal war chest.
The hearing also touched on the basin’s major chokepoint: Glen Canyon Dam.
Sen. Martin Heinrich asked whether the dam needs “alternative infrastructure” to operate safely at lower water levels. Lower basin states and tribes have asked for more options to release water at lower depths.
Andrea Travnicek, assistant secretary for water and science at the Interior Department, rejected the idea that Glen Canyon needs to be overhauled, calling that a “false narrative.”
“At this point, I don’t think you need to put in the extra dollars into that,” Travnicek said. “I think we need to figure out how to manage this responsibly together first.”
In context: Glen Canyon Dam Faces Its Existential Moment
Studies and Reports
El Niño Arrives
The switch has flipped.
According to NOAA’s latest advisory, rising sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific indicate the arrival of El Niño, a periodic transfer of planetary heat from the oceans to the atmosphere that influences the global climate.
There is a good chance that this will be one of the strongest El Niños on record. That tilts the odds in favor of wetter conditions in the Southwest; warmer and drier conditions in Southeast Asia, Australia, and southern Africa; and flood risk in the eastern Horn of Africa.
On the Radar
Drought Map Redesign
NOAA, which produces seasonal weather forecasts, is considering redesigning the colors and labels it uses for drought forecast maps.
Current maps are earth tones – brown, yellow, beige. The redesign would use green to indicate areas in which drought conditions are improving and blue where drought has ended.
Drought categories would also change. Instead of the current terminology – drought persists; drought remains but improves; drought removal likely; drought development likely – the changes would be more direct. The new language would be: drought worsens; drought develops; no change; drought improves; drought removed.
NOAA says the changes “were recommended after an extensive social science study.”
The redesign would not apply to the weekly Drought Monitor maps.
NOAA is accepting public comment on the proposal through August 3. Changes will be incorporated starting September 17.
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.
