This year, SYRCL’s legislative priorities have a new addition: data centers.   We’re working on this with our partners at the California Coastkeeper Alliance (CCKA) — a statewide network of waterkeeper and river conservation groups working to protect California’s waterways. Through our legislative program, SYRCL advocates each state legislative session for policies that safeguard our rivers and water supplies — and this year, bringing transparency to data center water use is one of our top legislative priorities. 

Every time we use an AI tool or save something to the “cloud”, we’re plugged into a physical network of data centers that can guzzle massive amounts of water to stay cool. These facilities power our digital lives. Their toll on our rivers and groundwater has stayed hidden. Until now. 

The Transparency Gap 

California is home to over 330 data centers, and the AI boom is only accelerating that growth. Yet local governments move forward with these projects without really knowing how much water they’ll consume, where it will come from, or what it means for supplies already stretched thin. This invisible demand has left communities in the dark about the true cost of the cloud. 

Here’s what happens when transparency is optional. In April 2026, Imperial County approved a nearly one-million-square-foot data center before its developer had a confirmed water source. The promised recycled-water deal fell through, so the developer sued the local irrigation district for 260 million gallons a year of Colorado River water, in a county that depends entirely on that river and already faces shortages. Now the City of Imperial is suing over the project’s environmental review, and residents are gathering signatures for a referendum to ban data centers countywide. This is exactly the scenario strong legislation is built to prevent. 

Two bills would make transparency the rule, not the exception. 

• AB 2619: Requires data center operators to estimate their water use before they even get a greenlight, then report actual annual water use (cooling and power generation combined) every single year after approval. 

• AB 2469: Requires that local governments not approve a new or expanded data center until the developer discloses projected water use and provides a full water supply assessment.  

Why Transparency Protects Our Rivers 

Healthy rivers depend on informed water management. As emerging industries place new demands on scarce water resources, transparency is essential to ensure that watersheds, fisheries, and downstream communities are not overlooked. AB 2619 puts data center demand on the books, folding it into Urban Water Management Plans, so these massive water users finally get counted in local drought and shortage planning. AB 2469 goes a step further: it makes sure a data center can’t break ground until its river and groundwater impact is known.  

Take Action: Demand Clear Water Data 

AB 2619 and AB 2469 are priority bills in SYRCL’s legislative program this session. As a member of the California Coastkeeper Alliance, we’re joining river and coastal advocates across the state to push these bills forward, and we need your help.  

Technological innovation and water conservation can go hand-in-hand, but only if we have the facts. Help us get these transparency bills across the finish line. 

These bills head next to the Senate Appropriations Committee on August 3^rd, and then potentially to a Senate vote. Contact your State Senator today. Urge them to support AB 2619 and AB 2469, and let’s make sure California leads the way in both technology and river protection. 

Senator Megan Dahle: senator.dahle@senate.ca.gov or 916-651-4001 

For more information on proposed legislation in California, see California Coastkeeper Alliance: High-Tech Water: Data Centers in California