We heard yesterday that Waterloo is pausing residential developments due to inexistent water capacity, however a quick check revealed that Waterloo continues assembling land for a large industrial site in Wilmot Township. Same shit is going on in Quebec with Microsoft data centers and the empty Hydro reservoirs. Right now we import electricity from the USA.
C’est tellement décourageant!
Here are several links indicating that scientists predicted the water crisis in Canada as early as 2006, but governments completely ignored (and continue to ignore) science and approved (and continue to approve) water guzzling projects. Based on this willful blindness and recklessness, all I can say is that we’re about to go extinct before 2030. We won’t have time to sue anyone, because we’re all going to die, before the cases proceed. We’re effed!!!!!!!!!!
What is the point of a million warnings only so governments and corporations can simply ignore them. The future is not happening.
I asked AI for a breakdown on this specific water plan. I’m suspecting many similar plans have been underway in Quebec and Ontario lately as well (given the visibly disappearing water levels from both provinces), but Canadians are always kept in the dark until it is too late. Well, now it is too late. The water is gone. At least, they are doing something about it in Texas.
Overview of Kyle Bass’s Water Plan
Kyle Bass,a Dallas-based hedge fund manager known for his “big short” during the 2008 financial crisis, is behind a controversial plan to extract large quantities of groundwater fromEast Texas.Through his companyConservation Equity Management,founded in 2021, Bass aims to explore and potentially pump water from theCarrizo-Wilcox Aquifer,one of the most extensive aquifers in the southern United States, stretching from Louisiana to Mexico.
His stated goal is to address Texas’s looming water crisis by transporting water to regions facing shortages, particularly areas south of Waco and north of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.However, critics argue the project represents a “water grab” by an out-of-state investor that could deplete local resources.
Key Components of the Project
Bass’s plan involves several strategic steps:
Land Acquisition: He has purchasedover 11,000 acresacross Anderson, Houston, and Henderson counties through entities likeRedtown RanchandPine Bliss Ranch LLC.
Exploratory Wells: His companies have applied for permits to drill test wells to assess the aquifer’s capacity. These are not yet for full-scale extraction.
Extraction Capacity: If the tests confirm projections, the project could pump up to 48,972 acre-feet per year—approximately 15.9 billion gallons—from the aquifer.
Water Transport: While no pipeline has been built yet, the intent is to pipe the water to high-demand urban and industrial areas in central and north Texas.
Bass maintains the project is still in the data-gathering phase, saying: “Should the data… indicate less water is available than our hydrogeological and engineering studies project, we will re-evaluate our plans.”
The Role of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer
The Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer is central to this plan. It is a vast, sand-and-gravel-filled underground reservoir that functions more like a saturated sponge than a flowing river. It supplies water to thousands of private wells, farms, ranches, and small municipalities across East Texas.
The aquifer is not fully mapped, and its recharge rates are uncertain.
East Texas currently relies on it for agriculture, timber (pine forests), and domestic use.
Unlike the heavily regulated Edwards Aquifer, the Carrizo-Wilcox has limited oversight, especially in rural counties without groundwater districts.
Experts warn that over-extraction could lead to irreversible depletion or subsidence, as seen in other parts of Texas.
Legal and Regulatory Framework
Bass’s project exploits Texas’s longstanding “rule of capture” doctrine, which grants landowners the right to pump as much groundwater as they can, regardless of impact on neighbors.
This 120-year-old legal principle makes it extremely difficult to block private extraction, even at industrial scales.
A 2012 Texas Supreme Court ruling strengthened this right by allowing landowners to sue for regulatory takings if districts limit pumping.
The Neches & Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District has limited authority and resources to challenge large operators.
Notably,Houston County,where Bass also owns land,has no groundwater meaning noregulatory oversight
Bass has invoked the rule of capture as the “bedrock principle of Texas property law”,signalling his intent to legally defend large-scale pumping.
Local and Statewide Opposition
The plan has sparked fierce resistance from East Texans:
Anderson County Judge Carey McKinney called it an “existential threat”, saying it “awakened the sleeping giant” of rural communities.
Local business owners, like Mark Calicutt of Calicutt Drilling Inc., distrust Bass’s models:
“I can make a computer model say whatever you want… But the real-world data I see every day is completely different.”
State lawmakers, including Rep. Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin), warn the project sets a “dangerous precedent” and threatens Houston County’s water supply.
Hundreds of residents have attended town halls and legislative hearings to oppose the plan.
Critics argue the water wouldbenefit distant cities and developers,not local communities.
Potential Environmental and Economic Impacts
The long-term consequences remain uncertain but potentially severe:
Depletion of Wells: Neighboring landowners may be forced todrill deeper or lose access to water, as seen in Lee County after the Vista Ridge pipeline.
Ecosystem Damage: Reduced water levels could harmsprings, wetlands, and wildlifedependent on groundwater.
Subsidence Risk: Uncontrolled pumping has causedground sinking in other regions, increasing flood vulnerability.
Economic Harm: East Texas industries likecattle, crops, and timberrely on consistent groundwater. Pine trees alone can use100–150 gallons per day.
Kelley Holcomb of the Angelina & Neches River Authority warns:
“We won’t know until they do it, and once they do it, it’s too freaking late.”
This summer many rivers in the Laurentians became non-navigable and people had to carry their kayaks in the mud. Riviére Rouge for example is almost but disappeared. Several Youtube videos document how kayaks get stuck.
Microsoft did the exact same thing to Iowa’s rivers in 2023. What Quebec has in common with Iowa is construction of data centers authorized by corrupt officials without prior consultation of the affected communities.
We can infer that these droughts clearly stand out as a modus operandi in Big Tech’s strategy to inflict irreversible environmental destruction to all North American land, not just the land they bought.
“Greater Western Water is assessing 19 data centre applications requesting to use a total of nearly 20 gigalitres of water a year. The proposed usage has prompted calls for mandatory water efficiency standards for data centres.”
original link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/technology/meta-data-center-water.html
“After Meta broke ground on a $750 million data center on the edge of Newton County, Ga., the water taps in Beverly and Jeff Morris’s home went dry.
The couple’s house, which uses well water, is 1,000 feet from Meta’s new data center. Months after construction began in 2018, the Morrises’ dishwasher, ice maker, washing machine and toilet all stopped working, said Beverly Morris, now 71. Within a year, the water pressure had slowed to a trickle. Soon, nothing came out of the bathroom and kitchen taps.
[…]
A data center like Meta’s, which was completed last year, typically guzzles around 500,000 gallons of water a day. New data centers built to train more powerful A.I. are set to be even thirstier, requiring millions of gallons of water a day, according to water permit applications reviewed by The New York Times.
[…]
Some projects are so large that they require the land to first be “dewatered,” which is when groundwater is pumped out of the surrounding area in preparation for construction.”
We’ve been having the same issue all over Quebec. People who rely on wells have to dig ever deeper only to find out there is no underground water left anywhere. Big Tech is currently building data centers in Quebec which explains why the water is missing. It is interesting that nobody informed us about the “dewatering” process.
Counties across Quebec have been importing water with cistern trucks.
it doesn’t mean it is over, I saw that they have a clause where, when they withdraw voluntarily (due to public opposition) Google can return in 3 months and secretly build the rejected project behind everyone’s back. It happened in Minneapolis.
If we have learned anything from the pro-Palestine protests is that the only way to stop a genocide in the making is for everyone to become as insistent and obnoxious as possible for as long as possible. The time has come to pull out the tents and occupy ALL campuses and city halls everywhere at once. I am open to street prayers and blocked traffic for this one. These are not normal times.
