For years now, reliable information about a massive new National Security Agency data center in Bluffdale, Utah has been hard to come by. The data center is believed to be the central node for the storage and analysis of the NSA's data collection programs, storing exabytes (1 exabyte = 1 billion gigabytes) of data.

In October 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Utah Data Center had experienced “10 [electrical] meltdowns in the past 13 months.” The paper added that the Utah site continuously draws 65 megawatts of power, “which could power a small city of at least 20,000.” Bluffdale itself is a small city of 8,000 people, just south of Salt Lake City—it is also the headquarters of the Apostolic United Brethren, a Mormon fundamentalist group.

But now, a small sliver of information—how much water the NSA facility uses—may soon become available.

Following a new ruling issued last week by the State Records Committee, Bluffdale now has just under a month to furnish municipal water records related to the Utah Data Center to a Salt Lake Tribune reporter or to appeal the decision to a state court.

Neither the NSA nor Bluffdale City Attorney Vaughn Pickell immediately responded to Ars’ request for comment, nor did they answer questions about whether the NSA or the city will appeal the ruling.

Susan Mumford, of the State Records Committee, told Ars that the city has 30 days to comply or appeal.

“They can appeal to district court,” she said. “There is no indication either way at this point. It is common with governmental agencies to wait [this long].”

Ipso facto

Back in May 2013, the Tribune reporter, Nate Carlisle, went up against Bluffdale's city council in an attempt to learn more about the data center by filing a public records request under the state’s Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA).

Carlisle, who did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment, asked for “all e-mails to or from the nsa.gov domain” and “any information provided to the National Security Agency to encourage it to build a data center in Utah.” That request was fulfilled by November 2013 , but it contained redactions of “Projected Water Demands.”

Carlisle then filed a second request in December 2013, asking for a “complete copy of the agreement for Bluffdale to provide water to the National Security Agency and/or the Utah Data Center,” as well as “records of water daily usage at the Utah Data Center from inception to date.”

Originally, the water records request was denied by the city, which cited legal advice from David Sherman, the associate director for policy and records at the NSA.

“By computing the water usage rate, one could ultimately determine the computing power and capabilities of the Utah Data Center,” Sherman wrote. “Armed with this information, one could then deduce how much intelligence NSA is collecting and maintaining, and this clearly relates to one of NSA's core missions, which is the collection of foreign intelligence. Likewise, NSA's water usage rate at this data center clearly relates to NSA activities in carrying out its foreign intelligence mission.”

The city did ultimately agree to provide the Bluffdale-NSA water agreement for a fee of $767.45, but it declined to include the water records.

Utah is an “arid state”

In mid-January 2014, Carlisle appealed that decision, arguing that the city should be compelled to include the water data and to lower the fee amount.

In its March 28 order, the State Records Committee found in Carlisle’s favor, saying that the fee should be reduced to $334.95 and that once it was paid, the city of Bluffdale must provide the water records.

Among its reasons, the committee noted that the GRAMA specifically states that "all records are public unless otherwise expressly prohibited by statute.” The committee agreed with Carlisle’s argument that the city could not use another state law to shield access to the information, as it was Bluffdale that had generated the water usage data.

The committee concluded:

There is no precedent for denying access to water usage reports and records, but rather there is a public interest, at least in an arid state like Utah, to be made aware of the amount of water used and sold by a government entity, and there is no jeopardy to any public policy, including divulging information about the activities of the Utah Data Center.

If the city does not comply, Bluffdale will be fined $500 per day and may be recommended to state judicial agencies for further remedy.

Utah is also one of several states that have introduced bills to limit cooperation with the NSA or to slow the distribution of state resources to the agency. Turning off the NSA’s access to local Utah water is just one example.

UPDATE 4:38pm CT: Nate Carlisle contacted Ars to say that he was going to wait to hear if Bluffdale will appeal before he makes his payment. He also said he isn't sure whether the site is operational or not.

"I asked the NSA that over the weekend, and have not gotten a response," he said.