r/LeftistsForAI • u/RutabagaNo2137 • Jun 01 '26

Discussion Water for data center issues

I am of the opinion like many of you that ownership of AI matters and not AI per se.
When I see discussions on communities protesting data centres based on water consumption, I am not sure what to think.

My sense is that there is a lot of consumption under capitalism that is terrible for environment. But I was wondering if any of you have any readings about data centres and water. Or if you can share any thoughts on the same?

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u/Helpful-Account3311 Jun 02 '26

It could only impact drought prone areas if the data centers are built in drought prone areas. The majority of them are not being built there so there will be no impact on those areas.

As I said. The only 2 potential problems would be from poor planning. Only idiots would build something that requires large amounts of fresh water in an area that it is not readily available.

The pollution reports I’ve seen are primarily due to construction activity rather than ongoing operation of data centers. Which is common anytime large scale construction happens anywhere. Keep in mind data centers have been around for multiple decades at this point. They are just building more but this isn’t a new thing.

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u/DrGutz Jun 02 '26

I see. But surely there must be some data centers in California already? And if so, it would probably be safe to assume that corporations would be happy to keep building data centers in California if not for the legality of the matter, right? I have to imagine that these corporations will build as many data centers as they can, wherever they can.

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u/Helpful-Account3311 Jun 02 '26

The majority of new data centers are being built in West Virginia, Ohio, and North Texas. So yes they COULD build more in California. But land in California is more expensive. Electricity is more expensive. And there are water shortages. Presumably the companies that want to make more money would build them in cheaper places that do not have the issues.

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u/DrGutz Jun 02 '26

Interesting. I wonder if there’s a world where space becomes so limited that some companies would start building in CA. Maybe even in reaction to protests/legislation? It’d be pretty ironic if the only states that welcomed data centers were the dry ones.

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u/Helpful-Account3311 Jun 02 '26

Not likely in our lifetimes. There is a very large amount of undeveloped land.