The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the rapid deployment of high-performance accelerated servers have dramatically transformed the energy use of data centers. U.S. data centers now make up about 4.4.% of electricity consumption nationwide, up from about 1.9% in 2018, and it is predicted that by 2028, this number could climb as high as 12.0%.
The upcoming change in the U.S. presidential administration, with its threat of tariffs and mass deportation of immigrant communities, has put more attention on the country’s southern border. Despite these and other tensions concerning the U.S.-Mexico border, Mexico and the United States continue to work together to negotiate new approaches and compromises to manage shared water resources sustainably, even as climate change and drought have reduced those supplies.
Water bodies and systems are rarely constrained by political boundaries. The ”Watershed Approach” allows for coordination of problem identification, community engagement, planning activities, and improvement projects at the watershed scale, allowing for expanded learning opportunities, more effective leveraging of funds, efficiencies of scale, and wholistic measurements of progress. This report provides a synthesis of history, applications, and tools that make the case for embracing the watershed approach in addressing water management challenges.
ELI, Stream Mechanics, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have partnered to provide a wide-ranging view of the state of stream compensatory mitigation. This report examines how stream compensatory mitigation has evolved in policy and practice and was based on a series of white papers, which can be found on the State of Stream Compensatory Mitigation page.
James M. McElfish
Director, Water Resource Management Program
mcelfish@eli.org
Tel: (202) 939-3840
Water resources and infrastructure management have a great deal to do with sustainable development of our communities. ELI and 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania explore working examples of collaborative municipal and regional approaches to water resources and infrastructure management in a new publication.
This publication identifies the laws and policies that affect water use in the energy sector within the United States. Water quality and quantity are integral to many energy production activities. Most thermoelectric power generation plants require substantial amounts of water for steam generation and cooling, while disposal of combustion byproducts raises issues of water quality. Likewise, the extraction of oil and natural gas using enhanced recovery techniques, and handling of injected and produced water, raise state and federal concerns for oil, gas, and geothermal energy production.
