Protesters oppose water-hungry data center in Tremonton, Box Elder County, Utah

Pattilyn Mclaughlin was among protesters who gathered before a Box Elder County Commission meeting in Tremonton, Utah, on Tuesday, May 4, 2026. Their demonstration was in opposition to a proposed data center, which an accompanying letter to the editor from The Salt Lake Tribune describes as "water-hungry." The opinion piece critically questions the logic of pursuing such a development while the region potentially faces water scarcity, as implied by the headline: "Asking God for rain while trying to build a water-hungry data center doesn’t compute." This indicates active local opposition and concerns about the environmental impact, specifically water consumption, related to the data center project.