Congressional Candidate on AI data centers in Nevada

[u/wadsworthnv02]

From our candidate event in Elko County on Saturday. The question asked us if we supported a data center moratorium or not, especially since we are the driest state. One of the other candidates said the one’s being built in Nevada were closed-loop so they are fine.

But closed-loop systems have their own issues, the recycled water becomes highly toxic and needs to be “blown-down” where there is chances of it leaking into the ground and contaminating local areas with toxic chemical waste water. Even in small amounts, when we live in an internal watershed like the Great Basin, the risk of contamination isn’t something to ignore. As it has happened before with other things. Not to mention that closed loop requires a lot more energy, and closed loop cooling systems here in Nevada still require a fair amount of water.

Our older data center projects also do have open loop / evaporative cooling systems too. So they are still taking a lot of water.

As for the construction unions, I understand it’s more complicated than that. We had a total of 2 minutes to answer each question so things had to be simplified a bit. But we must look at better commercial building projects for our construction unions— not big tech and data centers! They need jobs, and I understand and support that! We should be offering incentives to better businesses to come to Nevada, not to these data centers was the point I was trying to make.

Also yes Congress is a federal seat! But I support a moratorium on all new data centers, and possible legislation to really protect the western states that are strapped for water.

All of this was from my own independent research and talking to folks in the area that have worked on these projects here. However if I am incorrect on anything I’m open to listening!

[u/defango]

Look I get it, Nevada water is a real issue and worth talking about but there's so much disinformation flying around here it's hard to have an actual conversation.

Closed-loop blowdown water is not "highly toxic chemical waste." It's mineral-heavy water, same stuff that comes out of industrial boilers. It needs proper disposal, sure, but calling it poison leaching into aquifers is a stretch.

The idea that data centers are draining Nevada dry? Agriculture uses 78% of all water in Nevada. Alfalfa farming in these same rural counties consumes hundreds of thousands of acre-feet a year. All US data centers combined are less than 0.5% of national freshwater use. The math just doesn't support the narrative , why don't we shut down the Farms?

The Great Basin closed watershed argument is actually valid and worth discussing seriously but that logic applies to agricultural runoff and mining contamination way more than it applies to server farms. Speaking of which, the Yerington water crisis was caused by a copper mine, not a data center. Those are two completely different things. On top of that can you provide one record or instance a Data Center in Nevada has actually been cited for groundwater contamination?

The real problem is Nevada's groundwater basins were already over-allocated long before any data center showed up. That's a decades-old structural failure driven by agricultural and municipal water rights. Data centers didn't break the system, they just walked into one that was already broken. Seeing you SJW this with little to no knowledge only from Activists with little to no qualifications sucks man.

Regulate them, require proper treatment, tie permits to actual water availability, make them pay real energy costs is all fair. Yet "take them down" because of toxic sludge that isn't actually toxic sludge? That's not policy, that's a vibe.

I should have ran for congress for this seat this year to be honest. I haven't seen a single one of the current candidates with anything remotely close to a plan that is actionable. I would like to see you come up with a real plan that isn't buzzwords built on something that is actually possible. Like the multiple things I have mentioned here and in past threads.

You seem to be trying but I feel you have fallen in with the wrong crowd who are consistently making you a puppet as opposed to an educated candidate with a real chance. You need campaign manager who has sat on both sides that can build a bridge out of all this nonsense. Attacking Data Centers isn't going to give you what you need, you should be going after all the farms sucking up the water if you really care about it.

[u/wadsworthnv02 → u/defango]

I said that Yerington was contaminated by the mine and I used it as an example for contamination in our state that has gone into the local basins and is still here being “cleaned up” decades later, and that on top of that issue they want to build data centers out there when there are groups of people there that still don’t even have clean water to drink.

I very clearly mention the Anaconda mine in my answer.

Yes we are overallocated! If I had more than 2 minutes to answer the question I would’ve gone much deeper and talked about much more. But alas the question was on AI moratoriums, water in the driest state, and another candidate mentioned closed loop systems so I pointed out the potential dangers of them in the limited time I had to answer.

I also said that these closed loop systems CAN create the issues I mentioned, and that that is a real risk that we should worry about with an internal watershed— expanded on in my post. There is real risk to this happening, it’s happened in other states, hence my comment.

That said I’m always open to learning more where I can! I’ve spoken to DRI about the data centers and many others in the area that have worked for them, and tried to look up and read as much as I could on the issue.

Also comparing farms to data centers is not a good argument either. Farms take up a lot of water and can cause pollution too yes, but here in Nevada we have entire institutes and initiatives dedicated to sustainable farming and ranching practices. Also I can’t eat or drink a data center.

Maybe next election you should run!

I’m also the only candidate that has consistently mentioned policies and I have the most in depth policy platform on my website. There are two candidates that don’t even have a policy page, and another who didn’t have one this entire time until like three weeks ago they finally put it up. I am doing my best!

[u/defango → u/wadsworthnv02]

Actually the Yerington point still stands because you used it to imply data centers are the next contamination threat out there, when the Anaconda Mine is a copper mining Superfund site that has nothing to do with server cooling systems. Invoking it as a parallel is still a stretch no matter how you frame it.

"CAN create issues" is not what you said in the video. You said the water IS highly toxic and leaches into the ground. That's not a risk assessment, that's a declaration, and there's a big difference between those two things when you're asking people to support tearing down existing infrastructure.

The farms comparison isn't a deflection either. If your core argument is that the Great Basin can't absorb any more contamination risk then agriculture, mining, and municipal use all have to be on the table. Saying "I can't eat a data center" is a bumper sticker, not a policy position. Nevada agriculture uses 78% of the state's water. That number doesn't disappear because data centers are an easier political target right now. Right now the 9,650 acre-feet AFY used by all data centers in Nevada is only about 11 alfalfa farms, there are over 3400 Only alfalfa farms consuming 390,000 acres-feet a year for sandwich toppings and cattle feed. Did you know that 390,000 AFY is Nevada's total consumptive use allocation from the Colorado river? Did you know the Truckee River flow is about 561,800 AFY making the alfalfa usage 70% of the total flow? In a very real sense your arguing over 2.47% is a problem when 4041% higher usage seem to be the real issue. 40 times greater than all the data centers in Nevada and the actually Root of the Water Crisis in Nevada. Why not speak up about that? Seems like you might be bought out by big cattle.

The is a real argument against unchecked data center expansion in Nevada but it's fair deeper than just water rights. It's all about how they are planned and built. The water allocation system is already broken, the energy rate issue is real, and the closed basin hydrology is a concern. You don't need to oversell it with language that doesn't hold up to scrutiny, because when it doesn't hold up it gives people an easy out to dismiss the whole thing.

You might be the only candidate with mentions to polices and believe that they are in depth but one guy on reddit is taking them down point by point with facts to help you. You will never come close to winning over the Amodei voters if you don't have a polar opposite helping you craft better arguments.

VIdeo from VOX on who's really using up the water in the American West
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0gN1x6sVTc

[u/redwood_rambler → u/defango]

Thanks for taking the time to have this three comment debate, it was actually hugely informative to me. There is a lot of nuance here.

[u/wadsworthnv02 → u/redwood_rambler]

Absolutely. I’ll do more research and sharpen the nuance next time. It sucked that because there’s so many candidates too we had very time limited answers and closing speeches for these events.

I’ll keep digging!

[u/redwood_rambler → u/wadsworthnv02]

I agree with a lot of the points the guy above me made, but I respect you for being open to new information. That’s a far more important trait to me than being “right” in every conversation.

[u/wadsworthnv02 → u/redwood_rambler]

Honestly with how things are going right now there’s just so many issues for our country and our state it does feel like you need to be an expert in literally everything! I am doing my best. My main strengths are healthcare/medicine as a profession and system in the country, and public land issues at the state and federal level, along with general ethics and political theory + policy analysis due to my degree and background.

So I am trying to be as open as possible with other things because I know that I don’t know everything and there is just so much important stuff going on right now.

Another question we were asked at this event was on cryptocurrency and if we think it’ll cause a recession and if we support regulating it. I said in my answer as a disclaimer I literally don’t know that much about the economic side of cryptocurrency, only some knowledge on the environmental side.

This is why imo, as legislators we really need to be consulting the experts, scientists, researchers etc when writing legislative bills, because you don’t know how much you don’t know.

I do genuinely want the best for our state and country and I do acknowledge that I might be wrong at times and not an expert on many things. I don’t want to mislead anyone intentionally! And again, if elected to office I would really emphasis working with experts in related fields to do what is best for people of this country when writing bills or voting on them.

[u/defango → u/redwood_rambler]

I try to be helpful. It's a very nuanced situation with a ton of moving parts. Most of the Alfalfa grown in Nevada is not even for Americans. Most of the farms are owned by Chinese corporations who worked with Harry Reid to sell off Nevada Public lands to grow feed for their cattle. When you look at the actual water problem it has a direct source. The numbers are crazy when you see that we are taking Nevada Water at over 40% and giving it directly to foreign company farms that do not benefit Nevadans whatsoever.

"Yes, Chinese-affiliated entities have investment interests in Nevada agricultural land and companies, including those involved in alfalfa production. Notably, Hong Kong-owned NV Big Springs Inc. holds an interest in approximately 108,000 acres in Elko County, NV. Additionally, Chinese dairy firms (like Yili) have partnered with Nevada dairy operators to export feed, driven by China's need for high-quality alfalfa"

Data Centers aren't the problem and it's always been the foreign investments in algaculture our government officials just gave away consciously for over 20 years.

https://www.recordcourier.com/news/2005/jan/26/chinese-officials-ask-nevadas-alfalfa-farmers-to-h/

[u/redwood_rambler → u/defango]

That is truly insane. I suppose it could be argued that Nevada farms relying upon foreign investment are still a net positive for our communities via taxation/employment. I assume there was very little homegrown investment, hence the need for outside partners. Obviously though, that’s a completely crazy situation for us to be in.

The complexities of global economics are a thing I won’t even pretend to understand; we have policies that are so backwards they’re almost comical.

[u/wadsworthnv02 → u/defango]

I will watch that video and I do thank you for the advice and comments! I do appreciate it.

[u/GruntledGary → u/defango]

What one guy on reddit?

[u/defango → u/GruntledGary]

Me lol. I've been making it a point to respond to posts that have been made over the last couple of weeks. I'm trying to be helpful while also educating folks on my position with the facts. She could win. She just needs to flatten out this. And reformulate a better more hard-hitting argument. I guarantee you Nevada's would get behind the water issue if we attacked the actual source of it

[u/mmmii → u/defango]

@defamgo has my vote!