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Newsletter Highlights
- On March 14, the Senate passed the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025, funding the government through FY2025. It maintained 2024 funding levels for many sectors but zeroed out all Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) or “earmarks.”
- On March 11, a House subcommittee hearing discussed the financing of water infrastructure for FY2026. Experts urged Congress to increase funding for water infrastructure and data collection, as well as reduce regulatory burdens to accelerate project completion.
- A March 17 report from WestWater Research predicted a 170% increase in water usage by data centers by 2030 due to AI expansion, especially in water-scarce regions. The study found that data centers’ water demand correlates with power consumption, with significant impacts on local water markets in areas like California and Texas.
Announcements
Wildfire Monitoring and Management
NASA’s Applied Remote Sensing Training Program (ARSET) has opened a new open, online webinar series: Introduction to NASA Earth Observations and Tools for Operational Wildfire Monitoring and Management. This three-part training will familiarize participants with the various modules available in the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), explore the range of data and information available as well as the characteristics of satellite-based active fire detection, and provide hands-on experience that participants can apply to query, access and visualize the data in GIS and other applications.
Course Dates: April 16th, 23rd, 30th, 2025
Time: 11:00 -12:30 or 15:00-16:30 EDT (identical morning/afternoon presentations, followed by Q&A)