While data centers may be the topic du jour, the recommendations to address this buzzworthy moment are anything but.
Today’s fights over data center water use are significant in their own right, but they are also an opening. Campaigns that began as opposition to a single facility are surfacing broader questions about who bears the cost of industrial water use, what accountability corporations owe to the communities they affect, and what transparency the public is entitled to expect. In some states and cities, moratoriums and reporting requirements are already being extended beyond data centers to include other large industrial water users.
For water advocates and funders, this moment is an opportunity not just to protect specific watersheds or support specific local communities, but also to shift the norms and policies that will govern industrial water use for years to come. To better understand the implications and opportunities ahead, the Water Foundation has put together a report that acts as a primer on data centers and water. It also outlines five harm mitigation strategies that should be considered as data center proliferation continues. Read the full report now or take a look at the shorter version.