ChatGPT states that there are approximately 3,000 operational data centers in the US. and about 1,500 planned or under construction. According to The Guardian, there are 809 data centers planned across the United States and about two-thirds of them are planned in areas that are prone to droughts.
Each new data center would need between 3 to 5 million gallons of water every day for the cooling process.
Arizona has operational data centers in the cities of Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Goodyear and Glendate; with more under construction or in the planning process. Some of Arizona’s supply of water comes from the Colorado River. The supply of water in the Colorado River has been declining for more than two decades. Since 2000 the Colorado River area has been in what has been called a long-term megadrought with higher-than-normal temperatures (which increases evaporation). This decline in river water has been very visible in Lake Mead and Lake Powell (decline of about 33.5 million acre-feet between 2000 and 2023). Reduced water allocations have affected the farmers along the Colorado River basin (located in seven US states and Mexico). Some farmers do not plant some of their land because they do not have access to a sufficient amount of irrigation water. In Arizona, about 40 million people depend on water from the Colorado River. Nevada is another area that water is a huge concern. About two-thirds of Nevada’s residents also depend on the Colorado River for their water supply. There are at least seven operational data centers in Nevada and others in the planning stage.
Texas is another area of concern. The Edward Aquifer has been under drought stress; which supplies water to more than 2 million people in San Antonio region along with suppling water to area farmers and industry. The Ogallala Aquifer in the Texas panhandle would also be affected. The data center (“Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus”) near Amarillo will be built on about 5,800 acres (18 million square feet of AI Data center space). Not only will these data centers have an effect on the supply of water, but it will drive up the price of electricity. Less water going through the hydroelectric dams means less electricity. Less supply and greater demand will result in higher electric prices.
It is not just the amount of water consumed by the data center that is concerning, but also the water consumed by the total AI supply chain. In a new water-demand analysis, it was revealed that the data center cooling uses only about 4% of the AI’s total water footprint with the rest (96%) being used throughout the AI supply chain (semiconductors and chip manufacturing plants, power generation, etc.).
Our Federal, state and local governments are way behind in regulating the needed guidelines dealing with data centers. There aren't any federal regulations dealing with where data centers can be built (preferably not in a drought prone area), with water allocations in drought prone areas dealing with data centers nor is there even a federal water impact assessment required before allowing a building permit for a new data center. At present, there isn't any federal agency responsible for ensuring that the data centers’ water consumption does not destroy the water security of existing communities.
Even local governments are scrabbling. Take Nashville, for example. Nashville has 27 data centers, and yet it doesn’t have any data center guidelines, zoning ordinances, etc. Nondisclosure agreements contribute to the chaos.
The supply of water and the processing of the waste-water from the data centers is only two issues of many, concerning data centers.