The recently announced proposal to greatly expand the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is exciting. In order to become a Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Center (NLIC), Idaho merely needs to agree to take and store one-third of the nuclear waste generated across the country. The documents released by Governor Little extoll the virtues of the plan, but I was unable to find a significant element in the sheaf of papers. There is no mention of where the water will come from to fuel the fantastic growth of the INL.
The Governor does say at page 14 of his plan: “Idaho is prepared to identify sources of readily accessible on-site water supplies capable of meeting industrial-scale needs, including cooling systems for reactors and reprocessing facilities.” However, it is not clear to many who are familiar with the water demands currently being made upon the East Snake River Plain Aquifer (ESPA), where those sources might be. The wording– “industrial-scale needs”--implies a lot of water. The Governor should identify those “readily accessible” water supplies to ease the concerns of Idaho water users.
Most water observers understand that the ESPA is greatly overburdened already, creating bitter conflicts over its declining water supplies. As Dan Davidson, a career water manager, succinctly put it, “Idaho does not have enough water.” He correctly says that the ESPA “remains at historic lows” and that this year’s “record water demand, drought conditions and depleted water availability are red flag warnings.” Water users are continually fighting over allocation and usage of Snake River waters, resulting in numerous curtailments of water for many users.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) entered into a Water Right Agreement with the State of Idaho in 1990. As Idaho Attorney General at the time, I signed that agreement along with former Governor Cecil Andrus. The Agreement set the terms and quantity of the INL’s water rights. The Agreement was approved by the Adjudication Court. In order to increase its water usage, as contemplated by Governor Little’s plan, INL must acquire a new water right, which would come at the expense of existing uses. That might cause the agricultural community to rise up in righteous anger.
Many Snake River water right holders have had their water usage curtailed in recent water shortage years, but the DOE has asserted that the State does not have “any right to curtail or otherwise administer DOE’s adjudicated water rights” at the INL. A recent decision by the Director of the Idaho Department of Water Resources found that this was a matter to be decided by the Adjudication Court. The State planned against such a
claim years ago, so INL is likely to lose the claim that it should have its full water right while all other water users have their water curtailed.
Page 39 of the Governor’s plan throws another fly into the ointment. It says: “While water rights on-site are sufficient for current operations, precise management will be critical as NLIC activities increase water demand. The state anticipates significant adoption of sustainable water practices such as recycling and non-water cooling technologies for data centers to mitigate demand on the aquifer.” So, despite the uncontested fact that the ESPA is already significantly over-appropriated, there are plans for data centers? The Governor did state it in the plural.
One does not have to be an expert to understand that data centers require massive amounts of electricity and water to operate. The public is starting to awaken to the fact, as shown by two laws enacted by the Legislature this year. Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen’s House Bill 911 protects electric ratepayers from higher bills resulting from large electricity users like data centers. Britt Raybould’s House Bill 895 protects against excessive water grabs by data centers. We can’t allow data centers to cause electric rates to skyrocket for the general public or to impinge on the water rights of farmers, businesses and consumers. There must be clear-cut requirements for data centers to be wholly responsible for their own electric and water usage.
The unfortunate thing is that data centers at the INL may not be subject to state and local control under the Governor’s plan. The Trump administration has been pushing to locate data centers on federally controlled property for this very reason.
The upshot is that the State should not rush headlong into signing a binding agreement to take one-third of the nuclear waste in the country unless and until there is a clear and binding agreement as to how the INL will obtain the supplies of water and electricity to fill its substantial and increasing needs, without jeopardizing the rights of existing water users and ratepayers. It would not be asking too much for the DOE to commit in writing that it will not use a declaration of national security necessity to get around existing state laws.
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