To the editor: While the State Water Resources Control Board is ordering landowners in parts of the San Joaquin Valley to submit detailed reports of how much groundwater they are pumping, it must also demand the same reports from the 288 data centers throughout California (“For the first time, California growers have to say how much groundwater they’re taking,” May 1). They are collectively using billions of gallons of water from municipal supplies that are essentially unaudited.
Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 93, which would have required new data centers to report their expected water consumption, but only on an annual basis. In his veto, Newsom declared, “I am reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements about operational details on this sector without understanding the full impact on businesses and the consumers of their technology.”
Why is the burden of proof on our agricultural industry, which directly provides our food supply, so much more stringent than the one on AI hyperscalers? Instead of providing our food, they drive up unemployment as well as our water and electricity rates throughout the state.
John Boal, Burbank
