Stop the Google Water Grab

Google Data Center in The Dalles Photo: Tony Webster

PORTLAND, OR — As people fight data centers all over the country, Senator Ron Wyden has been silent about HR 655, The Dalles Watershed Development Act, which would essentially take water from the Dog River on Mount Hood to support a growing Google data center complex in The Dalles. Climate activists are waiting for him to speak up to protect Oregon’s natural resources.

Activists say that if passed, the bill would endanger salmon and water quality. They are demanding that Wyden take a stand against the measure. The bill is currently before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which includes Wyden. To that end, activists will deliver hundreds of postcards from constituents opposing the bill to the Senator’s office (911 NE 11th Avenue, PDX) on Thursday, August 13, 2026, at 4pm. In addition to the postcard delivery, there will be speakers, including leaders from Water Watch and the Oregon Data Center Defiance coalition, and the improv group Zany Bits will perform one of its silly skits.

“This land, and the water in the Dog River, belong to the people of Oregon,” says activist Lynn Spitaleri-Handlen of Extinction Rebellion PDX. “Wyden has to make sure the feds don’t steal it from us to benefit a multi-national corporation that pays a pittance in taxes. Wyden needs to make sure the bill dies in committee.”

BACKGROUND: HR 655 would transfer 150 acres of Mt Hood National forest land to The Dalles, Oregon, to expand its reservoir. This transfer would enable The Dalles to triple the size of its reservoir and increase its water intake while sidestepping important federal safeguards of public lands and water, and local wildlife. Diverting Dog River water away from Hood River will reduce the cold water flow into Hood and exacerbate the overheating problem in the Hood and Columbia rivers. Water Watch Oregon predicts that this could harm five endangered salmon and steelhead runs on the the Hood and Dog Rivers.

Google already consumes nearly one-third of the total water used by The Dalles, and they are looking for more. They have plans to expand their six-building Google data center campus, which sits adjacent to the Columbia River and already causes local air, water, and noise pollution.

RESOURCES:
https://bark-out.org/h-r-655-the-dalles-watershed-development-act/

https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/15/as-googles-water-demands-grow-the-dalles-aims-to-pull-more-from-mount-hood-forest