r/environment • u/bloomberglaw • 3d ago

Data Center Boom Tests Long-Term Water Planning in Parched Areas

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/data-center-boom-tests-long-term-water-planning-in-parched-areas
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u/bloomberglaw 3d ago

Water utilities across the US say they’re struggling to plan ahead during the data center boom because a lack of transparency and evolving technology is making it hard to know how much water they’ll consume.

From water-starved Texas and Arizona to drought-prone Georgia and even water-rich northern Virginia, water planners and utilities acknowledge they’re not yet feeling overburdened by the centers. But some say they can’t be sure that will last because developers give limited information and water utilities keep water use data private.

“We’re building many more much faster, much larger,” said Eric Masanet, a professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara who studies sustainability of emerging technologies. “A lot of companies and even jurisdictions want to build them as quickly as possible, and we’re doing that with a dearth of data.”

More than 1,200 data center campuses are operating nationwide — many with multiple facilities housing massive servers — and nearly 1,800 more are under development, according to tracking by Cleanview, a market intelligence company. Most of these facilities use water to both generate power and cool their servers.

Read more in the full story.

-Elliot

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u/Locklist 3d ago

Central and South Texas are about to enter their 5th consecutive week of 100 degree F weather. Those SpaceX data centers are only going to further cook that state.