Artificial intelligence may live in the cloud. But the infrastructure behind it sits firmly on the ground. And in September, two of America's largest states asked data centers essentially the same question: How much water are you actually going to use? On September 21, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of new laws requiring greater transparency around the electricity, water and land-use impacts of data centers. That same day, Texas Governor Greg Abbott directe

Rain finally came to England. Quite a lot of it, in some places. During the first part of September, every region received rainfall. Rivers responded. Soil conditions improved. After a summer dominated by drought headlines and water restrictions, it might seem reasonable to think the pressure should finally be easing. Except it isn’t. As of September 11, 10 areas of England remain officially in drought, with the rest classified as experiencing prolonged dry weather. Reservoir

When a city starts running short of water, the obvious question is: Where can we find more? A new reservoir? Groundwater? Desalination? But there is another question that doesn't always get asked first: What are we doing with the water we already have? Corpus Christi, Texas, is providing an interesting real-world example right now. The South Texas city has been dealing with years of drought and growing water demand. Recent rainfall has improved reservoir levels, but the city'

Sometimes the most interesting climate solutions aren’t new technologies. Sometimes they’re a field full of grass. In Great Waltham, England, cattle farmer Sam Squier has something unusual this summer: green pasture. That matters because 71% of England is currently in drought. Reservoir levels are falling, grass growth is poor, agricultural boreholes are drying up, and around 29 million people are living with restrictions on water use. Yet aerial images from Squier’s farm sho

Last week, we looked at what happens when falling water levels threaten something most people rarely associate with water: electricity. On the Danube, extraordinarily low water levels created serious problems for nuclear and hydropower generation. But that raises another question. What happens when low water doesn't just threaten our energy supply—but starts showing up on the balance sheet? This summer, Europe is finding out. When a River Becomes an Economic Bottleneck The Rh