The Real Story- A Column
The “Big Pipe” (Willamette Water Supply Program) is no longer a blueprint or a debate—it is a 30-mile reality. In January 2026, the final section of the 66-inch steel transmission line was lowered into the ground in Wilsonville. As the Willamette Water Supply Program (WWSP) moves toward its July 2026 operational date, the dust is settling, but the financial and environmental questions I have raised for years are only getting louder.
The Resilience Narrative vs. The Industrial Reality
The City of Hillsboro and the Tualatin Valley Water District (TVWD) have consistently sold this project as a “seismic necessity.” The goal is noble: providing a backup for the aging Scoggins Dam, which holds back Henry Hagg Lake, and ensuring our taps flow after a Cascadia earthquake. However, my investigation into Hillsboro’s water rate hearings revealed a starker truth. While residents face steady rate increases—including the 5.7% hike that hit bills this January—the sheer scale of this infrastructure is being dictated by the growing “Data Center Ring” in North Hillsboro.
Intel already consumes more water than all 115,000 Hillsboro residents combined. With nearly 30 more data centers active or in development, we aren’t just building a backup for our kitchens; we are building a massive industrial cooling system.- the water from the WIllamette is being sent to Hillsboro to cool Data Centers, tech players, and for sure the emerging AI Factories that the Herald has released the news on that are now being planned in the area.
We flew Hagg Lake 1 week ago and looked over the Scoggins Dam towards Stimson Lumber Company, and then back across the lake. The water is pretty high right now, but large releases will start at the end of Spring, and the water level is subject to significant drawdown at the Bureau of Reclamation’s discretion.
The “Thermal Trading” Trap
One of the most concerning elements I’ve tracked is the Thermal Trading Plan. Taking 150 million gallons of water from the Willamette reduces flow downstream, which naturally raises the river’s temperature from the diversion point in Wilsonville down river. This is a very bad thing for fish and other wildlife, and a warming Willamette means dead Salmon and is destructive to runs- not like the fish don’t have enough to worry about. This is causing the water to warm to a level that could result in a violation of the Clean Water Act.
To solve this, the City of Hillsboro and others use a “Thermal Trading Plan.”
The Logic: The Cities plant trees on distant tributaries to create shade, “offsetting” the heat caused by the Big Pipe diversion.
The Reality: Critics like WaterWatch call this “illusory.” New 2026 data shows that data center cooling needs can spike 10 times higher during summer heatwaves. We are taking cool water out today on the promise that a seedling will provide shade 30 years from now. It is not going to work.
The “Doubling Effect”
New research from 2026 shows that data center cooling demand can spike by a factor of 10 during summer heatwaves.
The Result: We take cool water from the Willamette, send it to Hillsboro to chill servers, and return it, warmer, to the creeks that feed the Tualatin, which in turn feeds the Willamette, and it will likely go back warmer. The “credits” the City purchased to offset this heat—largely through planting trees for shade—have been challenged by environmental groups.
The Hagg Lake Dilemma- Double Whammy: There is an equally big problem at the top of the Tualatin Water system. Scoggins Dam is an earthen dam and is not safe. Period. If we have a major quake and it breaks, thousands of homes will be destroyed, and an untold number of people will die. There are approximately 60 billion gallons of water behind that dam. The issues as a result are:
- The Bureau of Reclamation is now saying the costs to repair the dam are going to be 1.68 billion +-
- Hillsboro, Beaverton, and Forest Grove have the right to about 22% of the water.
- The Tualatin Valley Irrigation District has rights to a fair amount of the water for farmers.
- Clean Water Services (CWS) relies on the remaining water releases from Hagg Lake (about 30 million gallons per day in summer) to keep the Tualatin River flowing. This flow dilutes treated wastewater and prevents the river from becoming a stagnant, algae-filled pond. That water is needed to protect the Salmon runs, which have now been reestablished, and so much more.
- The Dam is not going to get fixed in this financial environment. We spoke recently with representatives of the Bureau of Reclamation, who indicated that the spillway is undergoing upgrades and that other safety measures are being taken. But the facts are that the water will be drawn down by 10-20% to take some of the pressure off the dam and to try to reduce the impact when the Cascadia subduction zone earthquake hits. This is bad news all around.
Wrap That Up-
- We are now diverting 150,000,000 gallons a day from the Willamette and giving much of that water to Data Centers and big tech in Hillsboro. They use it, heat it way up, and dump it into the sewer/storm systems, and do not cool it.
- That heated water ends up at the sewer plant, where it is discharged into Rock Creek and the Tualatin.
- The 150,000,000 gallons that were sent to Hillsboro are no longer flowing in the Willamette- so the Willamette is hotter now.
- On top of all of this, Hagg Lake is being drawn down to less water, and the 30,000,000 gallons a day it needs to release to the Tualatin to protect fish and the ecosystems. This is a double whammy, and there isn’t much that can be done about it except to pray and try to make some fixes to the damn.
A Tipping Point in Salem
The concerns I’ve voiced about our local resources are finally echoing in the State Capitol. On March 27, 2026, Governor Tina Kotek’s Statewide Data Center Advisory Committee is holding its second meeting, specifically focused on the “Data Center-Water Connection.” Even the Governor admits we must have “frank conversations” about the strain these facilities put on our limited water resources.
The Compounding Cost to Residents
It’s not just the water coming in; it’s the water going out. While we pay for the Big Pipe, Clean Water Services (CWS) is now pushing for a 44% increase in the sewer and stormwater rates over the next five years.
Hillsboro residents are being squeezed from both ends of the pipe, while the massive industries driving the need for this expansion continue to enjoy significant property tax exemptions, super-low power and water rates, too. Is the “Big Pipe” truly for us, or are we just the ones left holding the bill?
What are we actually doing to ourselves and our environment?
Resources & References
Hillsboro Herald Investigations:
Hillsboro Water Rate Hearing Analysis – Detailing the 20% resident rate hikes vs. industrial usage.
The Data Center “Ring” & The AI Surge – How global tech demands are reshaping local infrastructure.
Clean Water Services Rate Hike Alert – The latest on the 44% projected sewer cost increases (March 2026).
Official & External Data:
Willamette Water Supply Program (WWSP) Official Site – Status updates on the 30-mile pipeline completion.
WaterWatch of Oregon – Legal challenges to the Thermal Trading and temperature mitigation plans.
EPA WIFIA Fact Sheet – Federal funding and project scope details.
Community Service Announcement:
Another well researched article regarding the major impacts of data centers!
I have concerns about her Advisory Committee being primarily from the industry with preconditioned notions to ensure industry expansion. Is anybody really there for Oregon’s citizens, the land and wildlife? There’s a pretty good article in the Oregonian this morning on future expansions that are planned and it is staggering. No matter where you live, we are all affected by the excessive use of water, power, and infrastructure for these industries as our tax dollars are diverted to cover these increased costs while our bills dramatically go up. We will all feel the dramatic loss of farmland and open spaces as people continue to normalize the conversion of these lands in amounts I’ve never seen in my lifetime. When you combine data centers with the build out of solar and wind farms, we are industrializing so much of Oregon. We are completely ruining where people live and the ability for other things to move and live on the landscape.
Yes- they are. Almost all of them are on the big energy train- data center train – It is this simple- unless they fought and shut down data centers, they are with the likes of BlackRock and Vanguard and worse. Data Centers are no solution for us- not now, and not ever.
Dirk, are they complete with this project? I thought there was a few houses that held out selling to the county? Thank you for all the time spent this article as well. I’ve been upset about Intels use as it was and now this. I really thought the water was coming over to north plains and beyond for farming, but maybe that wasn’t the plan at all.
They got all the ROW and the pipe is all installed-