Virginia DEQ Report Finds Groundwater Insufficient for Data Centers in Isle of Wight, Surry Counties
A state report indicates Isle of Wight and Surry counties lack sufficient groundwater for large data centers. Isle of Wight is debating a regulatory ordinance for data centers, while Surry previously approved a zoning district for a data center project whose developer later filed for bankruptcy. Other Virginia localities are also considering or have imposed temporary moratoriums on data center development.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) released a report in July, mandated by Senate Joint Resolution No. 25, concluding that Isle of Wight and Surry counties lack sufficient groundwater reserves to support large water users like data centers. The report, which evaluated the Virginia Coastal Plain aquifer system's capacity for the growing industry, estimates a typical hyperscale data center could consume around 300,000 gallons of water daily. This amount significantly exceeds the DEQ's hypothetical withdrawal limit of 120,000 gallons per day for the coastal plain's southeast region, encompassing Isle of Wight.
The DEQ report further states that it is "unlikely that a data center with evaporative cooling technology" would find a "reliable, sufficient groundwater supply anywhere in the Virginia Coastal Plain under current conditions." Despite these findings, Isle of Wight County has access to water supplied by Norfolk through a 40-year deal signed in 2009. The county's Planning Commission is currently debating a draft ordinance to regulate data centers, restricting them to "within Development Service Districts," though no rezoning application has yet been received.
In Surry County, supervisors approved a new "emerging technologies" zoning district in 2024, granting its first use to Middleburg-based Green Energy Partners for a combined data center and hydrogen fuel hub. However, Green Energy Partners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections later that year, though the project's future remains uncertain. Meanwhile, other Hampton Roads localities, including Suffolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach, are either debating or have imposed temporary moratoriums on data center development while crafting their own regulatory ordinances.