Officials in Virginia have been exploring legislative options to limit the strain that data centers put on local water supplies, according to WDBJ.
"Northern Virginia is the largest data center market in the world, constituting 13% of all reported data center operational capacity globally and 25% of the capacity in the Americas," according to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, which provides information to Virginia state policymakers.
While these data centers provide economic benefits, like well-paying jobs, they take an enormous toll on available resources, including electricity and water.
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute found that a single large data center can consume as much as 5 million gallons of water today. That's the equivalent water use of a town with a population of up to 50,000 people.
Virginia lawmakers have sought to address the water consumption issue through a variety of legislative proposals, WDBJ reported.
A Google plan to build a massive data center that is projected to become the largest water user in the area has spurred lawmakers to take action. They have put forward a proposal that would require the tech giant to install rainwater-capture systems on at least 30% of the facility's rooftops.
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Local advocates have urged lawmakers to take action, arguing that changes to global weather patterns have made future water supplies unpredictable.
"We're in drought conditions now. Climate change means that weather patterns and water levels are going to become even more unstable," said Ben Verschoor, a local advocate who lives in Roanoke, Virginia. "We have not gotten a lot of guarantees that this couldn't have really bad effects down the line."
In other words, it's likely that droughts will only increase water scarcity, which will have negative effects on people everywhere.
Verschoor is a member of the Southwest Virginia Data Center Transparency Alliance, an advocacy group. While the group supports the rainwater capture requirements, it's urged lawmakers to go further. Establishing strict water usage requirements for data centers is another strategy that could hold data centers accountable for their resource use.
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$200 or more 💰 Virginia is not the first state to seek to rein in the way large corporations exploit vital resources. Residents of Florida have pushed back against plans by Blue Origin. Last December, the spaceflight company established by billionaire Jeff Bezos wanted to dump 500,000 gallons of wastewater per day into the Indian River Lagoon.
Similarly, locals in Benson, Arizona have fought against a proposed aluminum recycling plant. They said the plant would significantly increase air pollution and deplete limited water supplies.
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