Tucson's proposed data center amendments criticized over aquifer impact
An opinion piece warns that Tucson's proposed amendments for data centers do not adequately address the significant indirect water use by Tucson Electric Power to generate electricity for these facilities, which further depletes the local aquifer. The author advocates for new city requirements that would prohibit water use for cooling and mandate onsite solar energy for data centers and other high-impact developments to protect the water supply.
An opinion piece in the Arizona Daily Star argues that data centers pose a significant threat to Tucson's water supply, primarily through indirect water use. The author, Lee Stanfield, highlights that Tucson Electric Power (TEP) relies heavily on water-intensive fossil fuel generators to produce electricity, drawing directly from the local aquifer without oversight from Tucson Water or Pima County. Large data centers would require TEP to generate massive amounts of additional electricity for cooling, thus increasing TEP's water consumption to cool its generators, even more than if data centers used onsite evaporative cooling.
Stanfield criticizes the City of Tucson's proposed amendments for data centers for failing to address this indirect water usage by TEP. The article advocates for stricter requirements, including prohibiting data centers and similar developments from using water for cooling, both onsite and off-site. It also proposes mandating that such developments supply all their energy exclusively via onsite solar and batteries, to protect the aquifer. The author urges residents to contact city officials to support these more stringent amendments.