Many new AI data centers will be built on US drought-hit areas raising questions over water and power supply

Date:
Sun, 14 Jun 2026 20:05:00 +0000

Description:
Nearly two-thirds of upcoming data centers tracked in a study are being built in areas that have been in drought over the last year.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter 517 out of 809 planned US data centers currently located in locations under the influence of a drought for the past year US regulators are taking note of direct data center cooling needs, but might be overlooking power generation and fabrication costs The issue is fast becoming political for many Americans, 70% of whom do not want to live next to a data center The United States might be in the grip of a record-shattering drought, but AI data center builders and their proponents seem unfazed for now.

This is despite local frustrations over the detrimental impact of AI data centers on living conditions, which are becoming increasingly vocal. The unprecedented situation is impacting both power generation and water supply alike, but is finding a somewhat muted response from political stakeholders
in various regions Latest Videos From Watch full video here: AI's water needs far exceed the closed loop The AI industry maintains that closed loops are highly efficient in both cooling and water use, and datacenter operators such as AWS are implementing their own custom loops to capitalize on the
situation, but that might just be the tip of the iceberg here.

The elephant in the room for most data centers is power: all current
buildouts will require reliable power to support the compute they are
expected to house in the near future. You may like The data center debate rumbles on - here are the numbers behind People Over Profit Over half of new US data centers could be built in "high risk" disaster-prone states Amazon, Microsoft, Google and more pressed on data center water and power use

This is particularly challenging at a time when the US grid is already expected to be strained, even as it passes increased power costs on to consumers over the next few years.

In a report published by Xlyem , estimates indicated that out of the increase in AI-centric demand for water, only 4% is directly attributed to the data center, while a mammoth 96% is indirect (power generation at ~54% and semiconductor fabrication at ~42%), with much of the focus on the former versus the latter. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners
or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms &
Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

At a time when US data center construction continues wherever possible, even as some insurers raise concerns , a drought seems a rather secondary concern for companies on a warpath toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

This has led some regions in the US to take a proactive approach, with
Seattle effectively banning new data center projects for an entire year as
the city grapples with higher electricity costs and a relative lack of tangible benefits for residents.

Water and power are shaping up to be AI's biggest challenges over the next decade, even as companies continue to ravenously demand more compute, but others are less thrilled about the whole issue, pointing out that there are other concerns in play with rural, conservative populations, a key voter demographic for the current US administration, being the most affected by increasing water and power costs even as access becomes a bigger concern.

Andrew Coppin, the CEO of Ranchbot, a tool that allows ranchers to monitor their water use, summed up the situation, speaking to The Guardian :

The concerns from farmers are real and justified. Datacenters are flavor of the month now, but we wouldnt make the choice to only be able to have a
shower on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. I mean, ChatGPT is a pretty
nice tool, but most people would prefer to have a beef steak if they had to choose. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/many-new-ai-data-centers-will-be-built-on-us-dro ught-hit-areas-raising-questions-over-water-and-power-supply


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)