An anti-data center post by the Tucson branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation tapped in to growing concerns over how large-scale AI-related projects affect water resources in the drought-prone Southwest.
On Instagram, the group said Project Blue, a $3.6 billion data center campus, used over 500,000 gallons of public water in one month while ordinary households stayed under 10,000 gallons during severe drought.
It urged individuals concerned about the project's water usage to gather near the Pima County Fairgrounds to protest Project Blue and broader data center expansion in Arizona's second-most-populous city.
The group framed the issue as one of fairness as much as conservation. In a region where residents are asked to live with drought restrictions and shrinking water supplies, critics say it is infuriating that a major industrial project draws so heavily on public resources.
The message also taps into a growing national debate over whether resource-intensive facilities should be approved in communities already under climate stress.
Critics of data centers have also raised concerns beyond water use. The post argued that such facilities "drain our resources, raise temperatures, and prioritize profit over people," echoing common worries about energy demand, heat, and the burden placed on desert communities already coping with extreme weather.
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When public water goes to industrial uses during droughts, neighbors worry about who pays the price — whether through tighter restrictions, stressed infrastructure, or decisions that put corporate development ahead of local resilience.
That tension is especially intense in the Southwest, where drought and heat continue to define daily life.
PSL Tucson had strong words for the data center development:
"We cannot stay silent while corporations steal our water, destroy our deserts, and sacrifice our future to line the pockets of their billionaire shareholders," the group wrote, urging neighbors to "demand an end to Project Blue and data center expansion in Tucson!"
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Commenters also expressed their frustrations.
"We cannot afford to let Project Blue steal more water than they already have just doing construction," one wrote.
"NOT ONE DROP FOR DATA!!!" another said.
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