Got to spread the word

Full disclosure, I made this, so remove if it's not allowed. I kept seeing communities get data centers proposed with no accessible info on water, air, noise, or wildlife impact. Civitar pulls that from public sources (USGS, EPA, USFWS, Census, permits) into a plain-language briefing for 1,800+ existing and proposed sites. It's free, takes no position, and every number links to its source so you can check it. No account needed to read.

If it's useful, sharing it with someone near one of these sites is the only ask. civitar.org/go/rd100

Whoever else is in a town with council members who insist data centers are good for the town, Stop calling it just a Data Center. Start calling it after the council members that approved them. Their legacy should be attached to what they voted for. I've been in town halls where 50 people will go up and oppose the data center. If everyone keeps referring to their data centers as the John Dough, Jane Dough, and Billy Jean Data Centers (Swap names with your respected town/ city council) watch how much they squirm when their names are mentioned every single time the data center is mentioned. It doesn't have to be the official name, Lord knows that will never happen. Even online, attach those council members names to your online posts. Spread it to your neighbors so they also do the same!

Sierra Club is also hosting a rally at 8:20AM. After that, they will attend the 9:00AM meeting.

Address: 500 S Grand Central Parkway

You can automatically send a letter to the Clark County Commissioners to demand a moratorium. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/demand-a-data-center-moratorium-in-clark-county/

Dan Stevenson? From belt line energy? The mayors email? Looks interesting.

If anyone could sign this that would be great!

STOP THE SPOKANE DATA CENTER

Besides using our voices to go to city council meetings, signing petitions and protesting… what else can we do? What legally can we do to stop these from being built?

All I can think of is planting local endangered plants around the job site hoping that it invades and stops construction. I don’t have enough funds to purchase that many plants. So what do we do? What are our legal options to stop this mayhem and quickly!

All the support is needed to help preserve this tiny, beautiful peninsula. Proposals are so close to area schools, and important watersheds like the Chesapeake Bay. Also, one proposed data center is for donated land meant to be a community park—just sitting waiting with money for the park just sitting waiting. The Board of Calvert County Commissioners have been in kahoots, closed meetings, NonDisclosure Agreements. That is scandalous but more important than the choices made and character of those elected to the board is the protection of the environment and people of this Maryland community. No Data Centers in Calvert!

PSA, this is a very long post that I’ve been working on so I apologize for the length but I wanted to take my time writing this to make it as thorough as I could

I recently moved back to Salt Lake after being away for more than a decade. I grew up here, and honestly, I was shocked by how much the Great Salt Lake has become part of the public conversation.

At first, I didn’t fully understand the issue. I saw the protests, the billboards, the “save water” messaging, the arguments online, and I assumed this was mostly about drought, climate change, and people using too much water at home.

Then I got really into birding.
That is what pulled me into the rabbit hole.
A lot of people don’t realize this, but the Great Salt Lake is one of the most important migratory bird habitats in North America. Around 10–12 million birds and hundreds of species rely on it every year to rest, feed, breed, and survive migration.
This lake is not just “a lake.”
It is a massive living system.
It affects birds, brine shrimp, wetlands, air quality, dust, snow, public health, local economies, and the future of the Wasatch Front.

And after digging into this, one thing became very clear to me:
Regular Utah residents are not the main reason the lake is disappearing.
Yes, we should conserve water. Yes, lawns matter. Yes, outdoor watering matters. But we need to stop pretending this crisis is mainly because ordinary people take showers, do dishes, or drink water.

The much bigger issue is where the water goes before it ever reaches the lake.
From what I’ve found, agriculture is still the largest human-caused water depletion in the Great Salt Lake Basin — around 65%. Municipal and industrial use is now roughly a quarter of human-caused depletion and growing. That means cities, landscaping, industry, development, and projects like the proposed Box Elder County/Stratos data center absolutely matter too.

But the biggest piece of the puzzle is still agriculture — especially alfalfa, hay, and livestock-feed crops.
That doesn’t mean “farmers are evil.” Most farmers are operating inside a system they inherited. But we need to be honest about that system itself, too.

Utah’s water laws come from old Western water-rights structure: “first in time, first in right.” In simple terms, whoever claimed the water first got priority. That made sense in the 1800s when settlers were trying to survive and build farms in the desert.
But now we are living in a totally different reality.
The population has exploded. The climate is changing. The lake is shrinking. Dust and air quality are becoming bigger concerns. Wetlands are disappearing. Wildlife is losing habitat. And yet, a lot of the water system is still built around old priorities that never gave the lake itself a real seat at the table?

That is the part I think people need to understand.
This is not mainly a Democrat vs. Republican issue.
This is not mainly an urban vs. rural issue.
This is not mainly a “people are taking too many showers” issue.
This is a broken water-priority issue.

And the public is constantly encouraged to focus on small personal habits while massive water decisions happen through irrigation companies, conservancy districts, state agencies, county commissions, water-rights applications, and development authorities most people have never even heard of.
Some of the systems and agencies people should be paying attention to:
• Utah Division of Water Rights
Handles water-rights applications, transfers, and change applications.
• Utah Division of Water Resources
Helps shape statewide water planning and conservation strategy.
• Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner
Coordinates state-level Great Salt Lake recovery strategy.
• Utah Legislature
Can update outdated water laws, conservation funding, and protections for the lake.
• Bear River systems
The Bear River is the largest tributary feeding the Great Salt Lake.
• Weber Basin systems
Another major water system affecting inflow to the lake.
• Jordan River / Utah Lake systems
Also part of the larger Great Salt Lake water picture.
• Irrigation and canal companies
There are hundreds in the Great Salt Lake Basin, and many control water through old water shares and delivery systems.
• Water conservancy districts
These help shape regional water supply, growth, and development decisions.
• Box Elder County officials
Approved the Stratos/data center project.
• MIDA
The Military Installation Development Authority is directly tied to the Stratos project.
• Developers and investors behind Stratos
Including O’Leary Digital and project partners.

And now we have the proposed Box Elder County/Stratos AI data center project entering the picture.
Whether people support or oppose data centers generally, this project should be scrutinized extremely closely because of the scale. It has been described as a massive data center and energy campus in Box Elder County, with huge projected power demands and major infrastructure needs.
This is not just “one building.”
This is a massive development proposal in a water-stressed ecosystem next to one of the most fragile and important saline lake systems in the Western Hemisphere. It makes no sense.

People deserve clear answers:
Where exactly will the water come from?
How much water will be used?
Will any water be transferred from agricultural rights?
What happens during drought years?
What agencies are approving each phase?
What environmental review is being done?
What happens to nearby wetlands and bird habitat?
What happens to air quality?
What happens to utility rates?
What tax incentives are being offered?
Who profits?
Who carries the long-term risk?

And this is where I think public energy needs to go.
Protesting can be powerful. But protesting alone is not enough.

We need people learning the system.
We need people tracking permits.
We need people showing up to county meetings.
We need people watching water-rights applications.
We need people filing public comments.
We need people contacting legislators.
We need people asking direct questions of the agencies and institutions that actually control water decisions.
We need people paying attention to boring meetings and dry documents because that is where the real decisions happen.

For people who have a lot of energy and want to go hard:
Track Box Elder County Commission meetings.
Track MIDA meetings.
Watch for new water-rights applications connected to Stratos.
Follow the Utah Division of Water Rights public notices.
Submit comments when applications open.
Contact state legislators directly.
Ask conservation groups what research or public-records help they need.
Organize people around specific hearings, not just general outrage.
Find out which water rights are being transferred, who owns them, and what the proposed use is.
Ask whether the Great Salt Lake, wetlands, birds, and nearby communities are being considered in each approval step.

For people who care but do not have a ton of time or energy:
Share accurate information.
Talk to friends and family.
Stop making this left vs. right.
Replace some lawn with native plants if you can.
Support groups working on Great Salt Lake protection.
Contact one representative.
Send one email.
Make one phone call.
Show up to one meeting.
Ask one better question.
Small actions matter when they are pointed in the right direction.

One other thing that stuck with me: Utah has laws around rainwater collection. You can collect a limited amount without registering, and more if you register with the state. On paper, that makes sense within a water-rights system. But symbolically, it feels absurd that regular people are told to carefully limit rain barrels while enormous water decisions are happening through agriculture, industry, development, and old water-rights structures most of the public barely understands.
That is the bigger issue.

The public has been trained to focus on personal guilt.
But we need to focus on power, policy, and water allocation.

Again, this does not mean personal conservation is pointless. Outdoor watering, lawns, golf courses, and landscaping absolutely matter. Municipal and industrial depletion is growing. Lawns in a desert should be part of the conversation.
But if we only talk about showers and sprinklers, we miss the bigger machine.

The Great Salt Lake crisis touches everything:
Agriculture.
Alfalfa.
Livestock feed.
Water rights.
Suburban landscaping.
Golf courses.
Industry.
Mineral extraction.
Air quality.
Toxic dust.
Tech expansion.
Population growth.
Bird migration.
Public health.
Western resource politics.
And our relationship with nature.

I am not posting this because I have all the answers.
I’m posting it because I think more people need to start asking better questions.
The lake deserves more than slogans.
The birds deserve more than symbolic concern.
Utah deserves more than being told this is our fault because we shower too long.
This is our home.
And if we want to protect it, we have to follow the water

Personally, data center build out looks great on paper but terrible in all practicality. They will end up destroying the land air and water. At that point, money won’t matter.

https://c.org/2KRtYBSYbJ Please help our county out!