Why data centers are eating up enormous water resources | Transforming Business
The short version: DW's global tour of data center water fights shows the same playbook everywhere: build in drought-prone areas, cite trade secrets, dodge accountability.
Our Take
DW News did the legwork we wish more outlets would do — tracing the same fight from Montevideo to Santiago to Sweden and back to the US, showing this isn't a local NIMBY problem, it's a global pattern. Tech giants land in water-stressed regions, cut deals with officials who rarely disclose the actual gallons-per-day math, and by the time residents figure out what got signed, the concrete's already poured. Uruguay's protests over Google's plant during an actual drought should be the headline case study taught in every planning department in America, because it's coming here next.
The "billions of liters evaporate" framing matters because evaporative cooling is often the cheapest option for a company's bottom line and the most expensive one for everyone downstream — literally. When a hyperscaler says a facility will use "minimal" water, ask minimal compared to what baseline, over what time period, verified by whom. Most communities never get that answer before the permits are final.
We're tracking these deals street by street here in the US — check our facility map to see what's been approved near you, and if your town is staring down a similar fight, our take-action page has the questions to bring to the next public hearing.
This is GridWatch the USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of DW News, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.