Data center that vowed to avoid Colorado River water is now suing for 260 million gallons per year

Questions are mounting around a proposed artificial intelligence data center in California's Imperial Valley because its developer is now seeking Colorado River water, despite earlier saying the project would avoid drawing from the drought-stressed river.

KPBS reported that Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing has gone to court to secure 260 million gallons of water per year from the Imperial Irrigation District — about 750,000 gallons a day — for a planned artificial intelligence complex in the desert.

What happened?

Earlier, Sebastian Rucci — a Huntington Beach developer and attorney behind IVCM — said the project would rely on reclaimed and recycled water from local cities, not supplies from the Colorado River.

In a February blog post on his firm's website, the project was described as using wastewater "that would otherwise be discarded," KPBS reported. "It does not touch a single drop of the Colorado River," the site said. 

KPBS now says the company's plan had unraveled. In a lawsuit filed in Imperial County Superior Court, IVCM said it spent months trying to reach recycled-water agreements with the cities of Imperial and El Centro, including proposals to help pay for treatment plant upgrades and to route extra recycled water to the Salton Sea.

IVCM said it turned to the irrigation district only as a "last resort" after those negotiations broke down and the district rejected its water application in May, KPBS reported. 

The request totals about 880 acre-feet per year, which is modest compared to the valley's overall agricultural water use. Even so, KPBS reported that the volume is about the same as the yearly water needs of roughly 7,300 Imperial County residents.

Why does it matter?

This fight is unfolding in one of the country's most water-strained regions.

All of the Imperial Valley's fresh water comes from the Colorado River, which has been driven toward crisis by years of climate change-fueled drought and perilously low reservoir levels.

It also highlights a broader debate over AI infrastructure. Data centers can enable useful technologies, including tools that improve grid management, predict electricity demand, and support the integration of cleaner energy.

At the same time, those facilities can consume huge amounts of electricity and water, prompting worries about rising utility costs, pressure on local resources, security concerns, and wider social effects when development outpaces oversight.

Despite the concerns, an analysis from The Guardian — cited by KPBS — shows the majority of new data centers are increasingly planned in areas that have water scarcity issues.

What's being done?

Local resistance is already taking shape.

KPBS reported that the Imperial County Board of Supervisors will consider an emergency pause on data center development, and several cities in the county are pursuing moratoriums of their own.

The Imperial Irrigation District is weighing wider policy changes as well. IID Chair Karin Eugenio has publicly opposed IVCM's proposal, and according to KPBS, the board is considering a revised rate structure for data centers and other large energy users.

For its part, IVCM says it can balance out its water use by leaving the 160 acres of farmland it has leased south of the proposed site unplanted and unwatered.

Its position is that the farmland already consumes about as much water as the planned complex would, so that supply should be redirected. The outcome of that argument could shape how future AI projects seek access to limited resources.

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.