Tag: water

LA family slapped with shocking $10K water bill after nearby fire hydrant repairs

A Los Angeles homeowner is demanding answers after getting hit with a jaw-dropping water bill — and he suspects a nearby fire hydrant may be to blame.

Joshua Ward, whose family has lived for two generations at their home near Sunland Boulevard and Wornom Avenue, said he’s never seen anything close to the $10,000 charge.

Even during last year’s summer heat, Ward’s water bill averaged about $1,400. In April, it was $765, and by June, it had dropped to roughly $640.

He believes a nearby fire hydrant repair may have sent his latest bill through the roof.

Neighbors confirmed the water had been shut off several times during the work as the hydrant was moved farther up the street.

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Another Major US River Running Dry Leaving Millions Facing Water Crisis

While concerns over the depletion of the Colorado River have dominated headlines in recent months, a longer river has been quietly battling “a severe water crisis demanding urgent attention.”

The Rio Grande has faced some of the most significant water shortages in the western United States, which could leave millions of locals without drinking water.

Running 1,900 miles, the Rio Grande is one of the longest rivers in the U.S. It flows from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico and provides water to several Mexican and U.S. states, including New Mexico and Texas.

With around 15 million people relying on it for drinking water, the Rio Grande is said to have lost around 85 percent of its historic flows due to overuse and major droughts for several years, the World Wildlife Fund noted in June.

A spokesperson for New Mexico’s Office of the State Engineer (OSE) told Newsweek: “Despite recent rains, the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer and Interstate Stream Commission remain very concerned about the water outlook for the Rio Grande over the next few years and in the coming decades.”

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Got H2O? Technocracy’s Control Over Water

Water is the most basic resource there is. Every person, farm, factory, and city depends on it, and nothing replaces it. Whoever controls water controls everything downstream of it, including food, energy, housing, and population settlement. That is why water has been in Technocracy’s crosshairs since 1932.

Technocracy is a resource-based economic system. It replaces the free market’s price mechanism with the scientific management of resources by unelected experts. The original Technocrats of the 1930s said so openly. Their modern heirs are more careful. They speak of “sustainable development,” “integrated water resources management,” “full-cost pricing,” and “natural asset” valuation. The goal has not changed. They want an inventory of every resource on the planet, a meter on every faucet or pipe, and a central authority deciding who gets what and at what price.

This paper follows that goal in the documents from 1987 to today. It ends with the price shock American households are now absorbing. A 62 percent rise in water bills over ten years is not a random market event. It is what policy produces when it was designed for exactly that result.

The Technocratic Blueprint: Water as an Engineered Flow

The Technocracy Study Course, first published by Technocracy Inc. between 1934 and 1936, set out the intellectual foundation.10 In its analysis of the Price System, it explained that value has nothing to do with how important a thing is to human life. It comes only from scarcity:

“Both air and water are completely indispensable for the maintenance of life. Air is so abundant that one need not exchange any commodity for its use. It is accordingly without value… In a region of heavy rainfall and abundant water supply… water has no value; it cannot be bought or sold. In arid regions, however… due to its scarcity, [water] is bought and sold or traded in, and accordingly has value.”11

The Technocrats of that day understood that you can only control and monetize water by making it scarce. Water that is plentiful cannot be managed through price. Scarce water can be. The policy implication follows: declare scarcity, real or manufactured, and control follows.

The Study Course also treated water as one of the engineered systems of the planned city. Its list of design requirements includes “a system of water supply, of heat, gas and electric power” and “trunk connections for traffic, supplies, water, energy, and so on, between the city and the world outside.”12 In the Technate, water is not owned. It is routed.

The same document demanded total registration of all assets, continuous inventory and the specific registration of each individual’s consumption.13 In the 1930s, the technology to do that did not exist. It does now.

1987: Trilateral Commission’s Gro Harlem Brundtland Reframed Water

The modern revival of Technocracy came through the doctrine of sustainable development. Its founding document is Our Common Future, published in 1987 by the UN’s World Commission on Environment and Development. The Commission was chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, a member of the Trilateral Commission. In 1991, James MacNeill wrote Beyond Interdependence for the Trilateral Commission, a book that “extends the Commission’s analysis of the issues of global change” in support of the Brundtland report.14

Brundtland set three things in motion on water that still govern policy today.

First, it took away water’s status as a free good. In the report’s words, air and water “are not free,” and “the policy question is how and by whom they will be paid, not whether.”15 It said costs can be “internalized” by enterprises, which may then “pass the costs along to the consumer.”

Second, it called for regulatory and fiscal controls. Where groundwater use exceeds recharge, “regulatory or fiscal controls become essential.”16 For agriculture, it prescribed “the regulation of water quantities, and more rational water charges.”17

Third, it tied water pricing to energy pricing. The report praised “energy pricing policies” after the 1970s oil shocks and noted “the potential of similar pricing policies for other raw materials.”18 It urged countries to see “how far real energy costs can be passed on to the consumer.”19

The report also cast water as a source of international conflict. It cataloged river disputes from the Rio Grande to the Nile and the Euphrates.21 That framing laid the groundwork for “transboundary” management. Once a resource is defined as a cross-border problem, national control can be called inadequate.

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‘Absolute Travesty’: Dangerous Levels of Atrazine Found in Waterways Millions Use for Drinking Water

Levels of the hormone-disrupting pesticide atrazine known to harm aquatic wildlife are estimated to contaminate more than 25% of all river and stream miles in the lower 48 states — nearly 860,000 miles, according to a new analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity.

“One quarter of our rivers and streams are being treated like a sewer by corporate agriculture,” said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“Just one pesticide is single-handedly polluting vast expanses of our nation’s waterways at levels that endanger people and wildlife. It’s an absolute travesty.”

The analysis, which assessed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water contamination data, also found that dangerous levels of atrazine pollute waterways relied on by more than 20% of U.S. surface-water treatment facilities, reservoirs and water intakes that provide water for people to drink, bathe and prepare food.

The September report identified five hotspots with some of the highest levels of atrazine contamination in the country: Chesapeake Bay, Midwest Corn Belt, Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, lower Mississippi River and Texas Gulf Coast. Millions of people in these regions are served atrazine-contaminated water by their public water utility.

The areas where waterways are highly contaminated with atrazine also contain at least 675,000 wells currently supplying potable water to homes and businesses, including hotels, restaurants and office buildings.

More than 70 million pounds of atrazine are sprayed on crops each year and it is the most widely detected pesticide contaminant in U.S. rivers, streams and below-ground water supplies.

It is a known hormone-disrupting pesticide linked to birth defects, multiple cancers, and fertility problems like low sperm quality and irregular menstrual cycles.

Because of those well-documented health concerns, atrazine has been banned in more than 60 countries. Yet the EPA is in the process of reapproving its use in the U.S. for at least another 15 years.

“We need to follow the lead of over 60 countries around the world and ban atrazine once and for all,” said Donley. “Failing to do so will mean disease, death and dirty water in America for decades to come.”

In the Chesapeake Bay, more than 5.5 million acres of the bay’s watershed — encompassing over 15,000 river miles — are contaminated with atrazine at levels higher than those known to harm aquatic ecosystems. That area is home to 18 million people and more than 3,600 species of plants and animals.

In the Midwest Corn Belt, encompassing Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, more than two-thirds of the total river miles are contaminated with dangerous levels of atrazine. This includes over half of the region’s wells and 68% of the region’s drinking-water treatment facilities that source from surface water.

Florida’s 730-square-mile Lake Okeechobee is surrounded by 500,000 acres of nearby sugarcane fields, which are heavily sprayed with atrazine. The lake is visited by thousands of people each year for boating and fishing.

Atrazine-contaminated watersheds run nearly the entire length of the lower Mississippi River, many at concentrations more than five times the level the EPA has found harmful to aquatic ecosystems.

This poses a threat not only to wildlife but to the 20 million people who rely on the river for their drinking water. Water from more than 40% of the continental U.S. flows down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Texas Gulf Coast from Corpus Christi to Galveston is a vital region for migrating birds, aquatic wildlife and recreational activities like swimming, boating and fishing.

More than 6 million acres in this region, covering more than 6,000 river miles, are contaminated with atrazine levels that can harm aquatic wildlife.

Texas is the state with the most public water utilities reporting atrazine contamination, with nearly 15 million people in the state drinking atrazine-contaminated water.

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Trump EPA rolls back PFAS protections as 176 million Americans face contaminated tap water

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdrew Biden-era guidance in August 2026 that had encouraged states to use existing Clean Water Act authority to prevent toxic PFAS chemicals from entering drinking water supplies. The move comes as new EPA data reveals 176 million Americans—4 million more than previously known—drink tap water contaminated by these “forever chemicals.” The rollback affects guidance that directed regulators to require industrial facilities like chemical manufacturers to test wastewater for PFAS and implement cleanup technology. This reversal has alarmed public health advocates, who argue that without federal pressure, many facilities will simply halt voluntary testing and discharge reduction efforts. The guidance withdrawal also removes a critical tool for states trying to curb pollution at its source, before it reaches rivers and reservoirs used for drinking water. Experts warn that this decision effectively shifts the burden of proof and cleanup costs onto local water utilities and taxpayers, rather than the industries that produce and release these persistent toxins.

The scale of contamination

Independent research from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) estimated in 2020 that more than 200 million Americans could have PFAS in their drinking water at concentrations of 1 part per trillion (ppt) or higher—a level that independent scientists and EWG consider the maximum safe threshold. The new EPA data confirms contamination is worsening, with 2,230 locations across 49 states now known to have PFAS contamination. The chemicals have been detected in major metropolitan areas including Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans. Furthermore, a peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters analyzed data from the EPA, U.S. Geological Survey and multiple states, concluding that PFAS are likely detectable in all major U.S. water supplies, especially those using surface water. The study’s lead author emphasized that drinking water remains a significant source of exposure, and that the new findings show PFAS pollution affects even more Americans than previously estimated.

A pattern of regulatory reversal

The August memo represents the third major PFAS rollback under the current administration. In May 2026, the EPA proposed rescinding federal limits for four PFAS chemicals—GenX, PFBS, PFNA and PFHxS—that the Biden administration had set in 2024. The agency also abandoned a risk assessment of PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge used as fertilizer, despite its own 2026 analysis finding that even low levels of PFOA and PFOS in sludge could elevate cancer risk. Critics note a troubling disconnect: While the EPA’s own interim safety levels previously acknowledged that “new science” indicates negative health effects may occur with PFOA or PFOS concentrations “near zero,” the agency’s current regulations propose limits considerably higher than what its own scientists deemed safe. This shift, according to advocacy groups like EWG, reflects undue influence from the chemical industry, which continues to fight stringent regulation of the 12,000 PFAS chemicals in commercial use.

Health costs of inaction

PFAS, used since the 1940s in nonstick cookware, food packaging, firefighting foam and countless industrial applications, never break down in the environment—earning them the name “forever chemicals.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found these chemicals in the blood of virtually every American, including newborns. Peer-reviewed studies link very low doses—even below 1 ppt—to suppressed immune systems, elevated cancer risk, reproductive and developmental harm, and reduced effectiveness of medications in children. A 2018 CDC review challenged the EPA’s earlier safety determinations, finding health threats at levels far below what the agency had considered safe. Despite this growing body of evidence, the EPA has only issued an inadequate lifetime health advisory of 70 ppt for PFOA and PFOS, a level many scientists consider dangerously high. With no national drinking water standard currently enforceable, communities remain exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals that accumulate in their bodies over a lifetime.

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Foreign Actors Disrupt 2 Colorado Water Systems: Governor’s Office

Foreign actors gained access to computer systems at two small private water utilities in Colorado in late August, changing equipment controls before operators restored normal operations, according to the governor’s office.

Ally Sullivan, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jared Polis, said the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment followed up with the providers to confirm the issues had been resolved. The governor’s office said it was unable to confirm which foreign actors and did not identify the utilities.

“The two water utilities impacted are small, private water providers that serve fewer than 200 people,” Sullivan said in a statement to media outlets.

“The providers acted promptly and there was no impact to public safety or water services. We cannot confirm what foreign actors may have been involved, but we are aware of ongoing efforts across the nation by an Iranian-backed group to access drinking water and wastewater systems, as per the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.”

Sullivan did not immediately return a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

Treatment processes and water quality were not affected at either provider, according to the governor’s office.

The Colorado incidents occurred weeks after a series of cyberattacks impacted water and wastewater systems in multiple states. Federal agencies had already flagged the threat.

In an Aug. 19 advisory, the FBI, National Security Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and other agencies warned of an active cyber threat to Siemens S7 Series programmable logic controllers (PLC) used in water systems and other critical infrastructure.

The advisory said unnamed threat actors were conducting reconnaissance and capability development against the U.S.-based Siemens PLC installations, using AI-generated exploitation scripts disguised as legitimate monitoring tools. It noted that the hackers sought internet-connected PLCs running outdated software or that were otherwise poorly protected.

“The U.S. critical infrastructure sectors most targeted by this threat activity include Critical Manufacturing, Energy, Water and Wastewater, Chemical, Food and Agriculture, and Commercial Facilities,” the advisory stated.

“This is not a theoretical risk – it is an active threat.”

The advisory came amid reports of incidents targeting local water systems in several states in the preceding weeks. The FBI said that from July 27 to July 30, water and wastewater utility companies in seven states reported security-related incidents.

Michigan was among those states. Dale George, director of communications for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, said that the state received the FBI’s notice warning of attempts to tamper with operational technology at water systems.

“All systems continued to operate safely, issues were addressed by local operators, and there are no known impacts that posed a public health concern,” George said.

Earlier in July, more than 30 community water systems in Minnesota reported a coordinated cyberattack. CISA urged water entities of all sizes to protect operational technology against activity targeting PLCs.

Attackers had targeted internet-facing Rockwell Automation and Allen-Bradley MicroLogix controllers, changing passwords and IP addresses. Some effects included loss of pressure. Federal officials warned that a significant pressure drop can allow untreated groundwater to enter drinking water pipes.

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Texas Gets Tough: Gov. Abbott Orders Crackdown on AI Data Centers that Skip Mandated Water Surveys

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has directed the Texas Water Development Board to penalize data centers that fail to report their water usage, after state records showed most facilities have ignored the mandatory survey for years.

The Texas Tribune reports that the directive follows a rough stretch of compliance numbers: less than 30 percent of data centers responded to the state’s water usage survey last year, and response rates dipped as low as 28 percent over the past three years. Abbott wants an update from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) on compliance and enforcement by the middle of October.

“Data centers must share the duty to protect Texas water,” Abbott said. “The Texas Water Code requires a complete and accurate water use survey. I direct the Texas Water Development Board to use its enforcement authority to penalize past failures and to impose legal consequences for any future failure to comply.”

Since 2020, the TWDB has surveyed data centers and other industrial facilities every year, asking for monthly water use figures. State law requires facilities to respond or face a Class C misdemeanor, but the agency says it can’t actually prosecute anyone. It’s a non-regulatory body. That job falls to local officials, including district attorneys and law enforcement, agency officials said. TWDB staff told the Texas Tribune in July that they don’t even track how many fines, if any, have been issued.

The board said it would “compel all water users” to comply, and defended the need for detailed data: “TWDB is charged with developing a state water plan that meets the needs of Texans and cannot perform that task if it is denied detailed information on existing and anticipated water consumption.”

The survey goes out by mail to roughly 4,700 municipal water systems and 3,200 industrial facilities, including data centers that use more than 10 million gallons a year, a threshold the agency considers “a significant industrial user.” It asks for annual water volume, whether a facility buys or self-supplies its water, the water source, and whether the facility generates its own power on site. It does not ask about cooling technology, which has historically been the largest source of water use at these facilities.

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Israeli settlers cutting water to drive Palestinians off land

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have accused Israeli settlers of deliberately cutting water supplies and targeting wells in an effort to force them from their land.

Residents of Khirbet Al-Tawil told RT’s Charlotte Dubenskij that the community’s main water line was cut around four and a half months ago and that attempts to repair it were blocked. After a long, dry summer left water increasingly scarce, locals say settlers are now trying to pump their remaining wells dry.

“Some people have already run out of water,” a local farmer said, adding that residents have had to transport supplies at night, risking having their vehicles seized.

Activists have established a permanent presence in Khirbet Al-Tawil to support the community. During one confrontation over access to a well, the Israeli military declared the area a closed military zone, according to the report.

One activist, a retired IDF colonel, said he challenged the order and was detained. The case against him was later thrown out.

“The most serious problem in my story is not what the settlers do, it’s what the soldiers do,” he said. He also accused the Israeli government of backing the settlers, claiming their ultimate goal is to drive Palestinians from large parts of the West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly sought to play down settler violence, accusing the media of exaggerating the problem.

Residents of Khirbet Al-Tawil, however, say they have no intention of leaving.

“They just want to empty this place,” one farmer told RT, referring to the settlers.

With some wells already dangerously low, residents fear that exhausting the remaining water supplies could ultimately make staying on their land impossible.

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Under-The-Radar Oklahoma Bitcoin Mining Site Condemned After Leaking 3 Million Gallons Of Water

A massive water leak in El Reno, Oklahoma has brought new scrutiny to a Bitcoin mining operation that city officials say had been operating without required approvals and in violation of multiple building and safety codes, according to KFOR 4. Three million gallons of water were leaked, according to KOCO ABC.

The facility, operated by Athlon BT LLC, had largely escaped public attention until the leak was discovered. City officials say the company had also installed a fire hydrant without their knowledge, while questions remain about how water was being used at the site.

Athlon originally applied for building permits in 2022. By 2023, however, El Reno had issued a stop-work order after the permits expired and officials identified multiple fire and life-safety code violations. The company was given until December 2023 to address the problems, according to the city.

Instead, officials say Athlon continued construction and eventually began operating the facility despite lacking the inspections and final certificate of occupancy required by the city. Officials have cited problems involving electrical systems, drainage and other areas of the property.

“They really weren’t in compliance at all,” city spokesperson Lyndsay Bayne said.

The discovery came as a surprise not only to residents but also to local officials, who said the Bitcoin mining operation had attracted little attention before the leak, according to KFOR 4.

Athlon had previously described the structures on its website as “mobile data centers.” The operation, however, differs considerably from the large hyperscale data centers proposed in communities such as Yukon and Piedmont, which have generated debate over their potential demands on local infrastructure and water supplies.

The KFOR 4 report says that El Reno officials say Athlon told the city its equipment was air-cooled and therefore should not have required water for cooling. According to the city, the water line involved in the leak was supposed to serve only a fire hydrant.

That hydrant itself has raised additional questions. Officials say Athlon installed it behind the property without notifying the city, and it did not appear on municipal records. The hydrant was also reportedly concealed beneath a large pile of brush.

KFOR later observed above-ground piping that appeared to connect the mobile data center units and extend toward the hydrant. Athlon’s website, before becoming unavailable, also referenced what the company called “hydro-cooling technology.” Those details have prompted questions about whether the water line may have served a purpose beyond fire protection.

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US Government Warns: Hackers Attacking Vulnerable Water Systems With AI Help

Several U.S. government agencies have said that cyber actors are attempting to hack into devices made by industrial systems company Siemens that are used to monitor water and other critical infrastructure systems.

In an advisory published on Wednesday, the FBI, National Security Agency (NSA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and other U.S. agencies informed “owners and operators of industrial control systems” that there is an “active cyber threat to Siemens S7 Series PLCs,” or programmable logic controllers—an industrial automation system.

Unnamed “threat actors are conducting reconnaissance and capability development against U.S.-based Siemens PLC installations using AI-generated exploitation scripts disguised as legitimate monitoring tools,” the advisory said.

It added that the hackers use services to find PLCs connected to the internet that run what the agencies said is “outdated software” or are “otherwise poorly protected.”

“The U.S. critical infrastructure sectors most targeted by this threat activity include Critical Manufacturing, Energy, Water and Wastewater, Chemical, Food and Agriculture, and Commercial Facilities,” the advisory reads.

“This is not a theoretical risk—it is an active threat.”

The agencies further warned that “exploitation of poorly protected PLCs could lead to disruption of critical industrial processes, safety incidents, downtime or equipment damage, compromise of sensitive data, compliance violations, and cascading impacts across interconnected systems.”

Organizations using Siemens systems are encouraged to apply relevant security updates, isolate devices and systems from the internet where possible, implement strong security protocols, and strengthen monitoring for potential malicious activity, according to the advisory.

“These mitigations are particularly important for owners and operators who work with third-party service providers or system integrators who may have remote access to PLCs, as the asset owners may not realize that their systems are exposed and at risk,” they added.

The advisory did not provide the name of a specific group, country, or actor that may be involved in attempting to hack the Siemens systems. Nor did it name companies that may have been targeted by the threat actors.

The warning ‌comes amid U.S. cyber incidents ⁠targeting local water systems in several states in recent weeks. The FBI said earlier this month that from July 27 to July 30, water and wastewater utility companies in seven states reported security-related incidents.

In July, CISA and other agencies said Iran-linked hackers have targeted PLCs made by Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Siemens, and potentially others.

A cybersecurity risk organization, Encrygma, said on Wednesday that a group linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, known as the CyberAv3ngers, has attacked water systems in the United States and displayed political messaging. CISA linked the group to cyberattacks on PLCs in late 2024.

Since February, the United States and Iran have traded strikes as the Trump administration has demanded that Tehran give up its nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway that allows for the transportation of significant amounts of the world’s traded oil.

Other agencies that were involved in the release of Wednesday’s advisory included the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The NSA, FBI, CISA, and other U.S. agencies have long said that the Chinese regime, Iran, North Korea, and Russia have engaged in malicious cyber activity against U.S. infrastructure networks, collecting intelligence and engaging in cyber espionage.

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