Data Centers Continue To Drain Water In Drought-Stricken US Communities Despite Pushback

Data centers continue to use public water supplies without authorization, leaving residents in water-stressed communities to bear the consequences.

During the first week of May, two separate data center developments were found using restricted public water sources in areas already struggling with limited water availability, Fortune reports. Residents were the first to notice the problem and alert regulators, reporting issues such as low water pressure in Fayette County, Georgia, and dust suppression efforts in Tucson, Arizona.

In the Annelise Park subdivision in Fayette County, GA, residents began noticing declining water pressure last year, per Fortune. An investigation by county utilities uncovered two industrial-scale water connections serving Project Excalibur, a 615-acre data center campus owned by Blackstone and developed by Quality Technology Services (QTS).

County officials notified QTS in May 2025 that one meter had allegedly been installed without the county’s knowledge, while another was not connected to the company’s billing account. County officials later said the issue stemmed from an error during the transition to smart water meters. By the time officials discovered the issue, QTS had consumed more than 29 million gallons of water, or roughly 44 Olympic-sized swimming pools, per Fortune.

However, county officials declined to fine QTS, with county water director Vanessa Tigert citing the company’s partnership and economic importance to the area. The campus, which spans 13 buildings and approximately 6.2 million square feet, is expected to generate between $150 million and $200 million in property tax revenue annually.

Meanwhile, in Tucson, AZ, city officials rejected involvement with the proposed Project Blue data center complex in August 2025 over concerns about water and energy consumption in the region.

Despite the decision, developer Beale Infrastructure continued construction. A resident’s question about where the site’s dust-control water was coming from later triggered an investigation.

City officials alleged that a contractor obtained water from Tucson’s service area and transported it outside the city limits to the Project Blue site for dust suppression efforts without authorization. Beale, however, said it received approval for water access through normal procedures. City officials countered that Beale had filled out an application for authorization, but failed to receive said authorization, per Fortune.

On May 12, 2026, the company received a notice of violation from the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality for “excess dust that crossed property boundary lines and no use of dust control measures,” per KGUN9.

How Much Water Do Data Centers Consume?

According to the MOST Policy Initiative, data centers in the United States consumed an estimated 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023. Projections show that this number could increase to 38-73 billion gallons annually by 2028.

A typical mid-sized data center uses about 110 million gallons of water each year for cooling purposes, roughly equivalent to the annual water consumption of 1,000 households, per Fortune. Some larger facilities can use as many as 5 million gallons per day.

In Oregon, Google data centers in The Dalles used roughly a quarter of the city’s water supply in 2021, while a Meta data center in Georgia allegedly disrupted nearby private wells.

“Being good neighbors is a top priority everywhere we operate data centers,” a Meta spokesperson told Fortune. “We commissioned a third-party well study in Georgia, which confirmed there is no connection between the well issue and Meta’s operations or our data center.”

The company also shared plans to become water positive by 2030, aiming to restore more water than it consumes.

Growing national tensions over data center development have prompted over 50 American cities to enact bans or moratoriums on new data center construction, Fortune reports.

The post Data Centers Continue To Drain Water In Drought-Stricken US Communities Despite Pushback appeared first on AfroTech.

The post Data Centers Continue To Drain Water In Drought-Stricken US Communities Despite Pushback appeared first on AfroTech.