Across the country, from Virginia to Michigan to Arizona, tech companies are pouring billions of dollars into new data center projects needed to store and manage digital information amid the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Meanwhile, state and local governments are enticed by projected increases in economic output, job creation, property tax revenue, and more that may accompany such projects. In some communities, leaders are practically tripping over themselves to lure more tech investment as part of the country’s expanding AI boom, whether by offering tax incentives or scrambling to approve permits.
But amid this AI-fueled gold rush, more leaders are beginning to pay attention to the short- and long-term natural resource concerns, especially around all the water needed to keep data centers running. And even beyond the water needed to support data centers, public and private leaders increasingly need to view data centers in light of larger regional plans and priorities around water infrastructure investment and economic development.
Building a new facility and pledging economic impact mean little without sustainably incorporating water resources into ongoing operations. While land and energy are also enormous inputs, water is a fundamental ingredient to keep servers and other equipment in data centers reliably cool. A typical data center uses 300,000 gallons of water each day (equivalent to the demands of about 1,000 households), but large data centers can use an estimated 5 million gallons of water each day, equivalent to the needs of a town of up to 50,000 residents. Moreover, projections show water used for cooling may increase by 870% in the coming years as more facilities come online. These direct water needs also do not include the indirect needs required for energy generated offsite or involved in manufacturing software components.
To be sure, technological innovations are evolving rapidly to reduce water use. The exact amount of water needed varies widely depending on the facility, including whether it uses a closed-loop cooling system, which can reduce freshwater use by up to 70%. Other design improvements, such as air cooling and immersion cooling, can remove heat and help limit water use. And taking advantage of renewable energy sources, including onsite solar installations, can coincide with these upgrades to boost overall sustainability. But the resource challenge is still a vexing concern in many regions.
The result is a complex challenge not only facing tech firms and economic development leaders, but also the individual water systems responsible for providing service. Increasingly, more systems in more places are grappling with data centers’ water impacts—and those of an AI-driven world more generally—including significant and ongoing water use; expanded infrastructure costs such as new distribution lines to reach exurban facilities; and other regulatory and financial pressures. Even as data centers may depend more on water reuse technologies or onsite water sources, that does not change the fact that water stresses are still hitting different regions with greater frequency and intensity. In addition, the concentration of existing or potential facilities means some regions are facing more intense demands, particularly water-stressed areas in the West and Southwest.
