Overview
- A peer-reviewed global map published in Environmental Science & Technology shows about 25% of 9,347 operational data centers sit in places where water demand exceeds supply for at least one month each year, the finding reported on Tuesday highlights.
- The researchers project that under a roughly 3°C warmer scenario the share would rise to about one-third of today’s facilities, with most additional at-risk sites located in the United States.
- Data centers draw water mainly for server cooling and also cause indirect water use through electricity generation, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates U.S. cooling withdrawals were about 17 billion gallons in 2023 with much larger embedded water used to produce their power.
- Local communities and planners have pushed back, with votes blocking proposed campuses in several U.S. jurisdictions this year, and industry voices now call for site-specific disclosure of water and energy use, locally fit cooling designs, and firm grid-connection plans.
- The bigger context is that agriculture uses most freshwater globally, so national totals can hide local pressure; adopting low-water cooling, sealed liquid loops, better siting, and early community engagement are the main ways to reduce strain and future conflicts.