The lab started making plutonium bomb cores, or \u201cpits\u201d for a new generation of warheads well before an environmental impact statement<\/a> was published in March. In its latest move, however, the Department of Energy has set its sights on an even larger \u2014 and thirstier \u2014 expansion.<\/p>\n Plans include building a new 100,000-square-foot facility dedicated solely to artificial intelligence supercomputers, along with one or more microreactors, a compact nuclear reactor designed to generate small-scale power and facilities for staging nuclear waste.<\/p>\n The expanded lab would use more water in one day than the average farmer uses in a single year, said Joni Arends, executive director of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. \u201cBut farmers are growing food, whereas the lab is building nuclear weapons,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n MOST OF THE WATER GOING TO THE LAB comes from the Espa\u00f1ola Basin, a sole-source aquifer that stretches across almost 3,000 miles of north-central New Mexico. It currently supplies<\/a> eight tribes and towns, including Santa Fe, the state capital, as well as the town of Los Alamos, where wells have been declining 1 to 2 feet per year since the 1970s.<\/p>\n \u201cIncreasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation totals will strain existing water resources,\u201d a recent water conservation plan<\/a> authored by Los Alamos County warned. One of \u201cthe biggest factors\u201d out of its control, and the control of the Department of Energy, it added, is a \u201cchanging climate.\u201d Efforts are currently underway to map<\/a> the Espa\u00f1ola Basin to better manage its water resources.<\/p>\n Anxiety has been on the rise in recent years concerning the growing water shortages linked to climate change. Snowpack has continually been at record lows, and growing seasons have begun to shift and shorten in recent years from lack of precipitation.<\/p>\n More broadly, New Mexico faces a \u201clooming groundwater crisis,\u201d as aquifers statewide are depleted with little chance of recharging, a report from the New Mexico Groundwater Alliance said<\/a> last year. The report cited irrigation for large-scale agricultural operations as the state\u2019s biggest guzzler.<\/p>\n By 2050, estimates<\/a> show the state\u2019s water shortage will amount to 750,000 acre-feet of water, or some 2.5 trillion gallons. The Pojoaque Basin Aquifer, which is adjacent to the Espa\u00f1ola Basin, is now closed to any new water development to protect the high-priority water rights of four local tribes following a multi-decade lawsuit.<\/p>\n The lab\u2019s expansion \u2014 which will grow its footprint <\/a>by about 30% \u2014 could almost double its water use compared to previous years. Yet the federal government insists<\/a> that the impacts of the expansion would be negligible.<\/p>\n \u201cBarring potential water quality issues, continued pumping of the regional aquifer at current rates is likely to be sustainable for hundreds of years,\u201d its environmental impact statement said, even considering \u201cincreasingly erratic and damaging weather patterns.\u201d Federal environmental law only mandates further analysis if the lab exceeds 542 million gallons annually, it went on, a number that corresponds to the amount of water rights<\/a> the lab holds. The Department of Energy did not respond to inquiries regarding when the lab would realize its increased water use.<\/p>\n \u201cBarring potential water quality issues, continued pumping of the regional aquifer at current rates is likely to be sustainable for hundreds of years.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, staying below its maximum adds up to about 30% of all water consumption in Los Alamos County, which supplies water to the lab.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to need to use reclaimed water and their water rights availability to meet their expanded growth,\u201d said Philo Shelton, manager of the county Public Utilities Department. But discussions about how the lab plans to meet those water demands \u2014 and how much reclaimed water it will use \u2014 are still in the early stages, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cOur other challenge is the chromium plume,\u201d Shelton added, referring to underground contamination from hexavalent chromium, a highly toxic carcinogen that seeped into the aquifer decades ago from lab operations. When the contamination was found within a quarter of a mile of a drinking water well, the county ultimately shut it off, out of an abundance of caution.<\/p>\n \u201cThat limits our ability to supply water with a high-producing well,\u201d he said, adding that the county is in talks with the Department of Energy about drilling a new one.\u00a0<\/p>\n THE INCREASED WATER USE AT the Los Alamos National Laboratory comes at a time when communities in New Mexico and across the West are pushing back against the growing water demands of technological facilities, including AI data centers. In fact, according to the impact statement, much of Los Alamos\u2019 increased water use will be for a \u201cfuture supercomputer\u201d that is expected to be installed in 2027. Two supercomputers have already come online in recent years and will \u201cexplore the tremendous opportunities of artificial intelligence,\u201d Tom Mason, the lab\u2019s director, said<\/a> at a town hall earlier this year.<\/p>\n Public sentiment has been strongly against similar nearby projects, including Project Jupiter, the controversial AI data center campus slated for southern New Mexico that is projected to use about 1 million gallons per day<\/a>. Meanwhile, Meta\u2019s data center in central New Mexico is permitted to use 163 million gallons a <\/a>year<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Department of Energy allowed public comment on a draft of the impact statement last year. But a day after<\/a> that period ended, an executive order passed by President Donald Trump rescinding the National Environmental Protection Act went into effect, essentially curbing local residents\u2019 ability to weigh in on the federal government\u2019s final decision to expand the lab and increase its water use. \u201cWhat\u2019s lost is people\u2019s right to self-determination,\u201d Arends said.<\/p>\n Climate change and its impacts, including drought, were once recognized<\/a> as threats to national security. Now, as water helps power the next chapter of national security, that recognition has all but evaporated.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Spread the word. News organizations can pick-up\u00a0quality news, essays\u00a0and feature stories for free.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042926-lanl-6-scaled.jpg\")
Dimensions are for visualization using estimates for sizing versus exact scale. Credit: Luna Anna Archey\/High Country News<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042926-lanl-1.jpg\")
Before its approval last year, organizers protest Project Jupiter, a new $165 billion data center campus in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Credit: Diego Mendoza-Moyers\/El Paso Matters<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Creative](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cc-by-nc-nd-4.0.png\"\/)
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