California’s thirsty data centers
California's data centers consume vast amounts of water for cooling, with consumption increasing during summer months. The state currently hosts 286 data centers, and a new large facility is planned for Imperial by 2028. This growing demand for water infrastructure upgrades and existing water supply has raised public concern.
Data centers in California are significant consumers of water, primarily for evaporative cooling to prevent server overheating. These facilities can use between 1 and 5 million gallons of water daily, with peak usage in summer.
California currently hosts 286 data centers, with more in development. A notably large 950,000-square-foot data center, projected to be the state's largest, is targeted for construction in Imperial by 2028. A nationwide poll indicates that 54% of respondents are very concerned about data centers' impact on local water quality, supply, and costs, as over 90% of US data centers rely on municipal water systems.
The expansion of data centers is driving an estimated $10 billion to $58 billion in water infrastructure upgrades across the country, while developing new water sources can take up to 20 years. A study by the University of California, Riverside, projects that data centers could require an additional 697 to 1,451 million gallons of water capacity daily in the coming years, a volume comparable to New York City's entire daily water consumption.