Thirsty machines: AI data centers' need for water prompts local worries over supplies, impacts
Meta is building a $1 billion hyperscale data center in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where a nearby farm owner says construction has disrupted creek flows and contaminated well and household water. The article also examines broader water and power concerns, including a one-year data center moratorium in Dubuque County, Iowa, and infrastructure commitments tied to an EdgeConneX project in Ashville, Ohio.
Meta is constructing a 520-acre, $1 billion data center in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Local resident Maily Kocinski says construction has caused intermittent creek flows, murky water and elevated strontium levels, potentially requiring a filtration system costing up to $40,000. Beaver Dam Mayor Roberta “Bobbi” Marck has met with the Kocinskis and Meta, while Meta says mapping and third-party analysis show the creek originates at a nearby quarry rather than the data center parcel and that construction is occurring far from the farm.
The report places the Beaver Dam dispute within a broader debate over water demand from AI facilities. Dubuque County, Iowa, approved a one-year moratorium while it studies a proposed data center’s effects on water, energy, farmland and a nearby airport. In Ashville, Ohio, EdgeConneX agreed to fund up to $35 million in municipal water plant upgrades for an approved 800-megawatt facility, while local officials remain concerned about the project's power generation, air quality and noise impacts.