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HIGHLIGHTS
On May 12, the Bureau of Land Management published a proposed rule revising grazing administration regulations to align with congressional amendments, GAO recommendations, court rulings, and modernization needs. Notably, the rule would remove water quality from the fundamentals of land health, deferring instead to state agencies and the EPA, and would clarify water rights provisions to protect state-law-permitted stockwater rights and require 30 days’ notice before changes to water right terms.
On April 29, the House Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee reviewed NASA’s FY2027 budget request of $18.8B, a 23% cut from current levels that would slash the Science Mission Directorate and reduce Earth science funding from $350M to $164M. On May 13, the full House Appropriations Committee approved H.R. 5342 at a higher $24.4B funding level, though it still included a $100M cut to Earth Sciences.
On April 29, the House subcommittee reviewed NOAA’s FY2027 budget request of $4.54B, which proposed eliminating the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and cutting grants for flood modeling, streamflow research, and drought information systems. H.R. 5342, approved May 13, rejected those eliminations and appropriated $5.9B for NOAA, increasing funding for weather research and providing targeted investments in radar, mesonet data, and AI-assisted weather alerts.
On May 15, the Western Governors’ Association submitted written testimony to congressional leadership urging strong state-federal cooperation in managing public lands, wildlife, and water resources. Key requests included full funding for the USGS Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, full distribution of EPA’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, and explicit legislative protection of state primacy over groundwater.
On May 13, the WSWC joined more than 70 organizations in a letter to Congress calling for at least $2B in near-term federal drought mitigation funding for the Colorado River Basin, extending beyond September 2026. The coalition also urged establishment of a long-term federal funding mechanism to support conservation, new technologies, and additional water supply options in partnership with Basin states and stakeholders.
On May 7, a WestFAST webinar featured a presentation on the water and land use challenges of data center siting, highlighting that hyperscale facilities can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day and that electricity demand from data centers is projected to reach 130 gigawatts by 2030. The presenter emphasized the need for better community planning tools and flagged the underappreciated financial risk of data center abandonment as chip technology rapidly renders facilities obsolete.