As artificial intelligence fuels a global boom in data center construction, researchers warn that the industry’s thirst for water is becoming harder to ignore. Data centers require water both directly, to cool servers, and indirectly, through the power plants that generate their electricity. A Lawrence Berkeley Lab study estimates U.S. data centers used 17 billion gallons of water for cooling in 2023—and more than 200 billion gallons indirectly through power generation. Those figures could double or even quadruple by 2028.
Tech giants such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon release varying levels of disclosure in their sustainability reports, but transparency remains inconsistent. In 2023, Google reported using 6.1 billion gallons for data centers, including 1 billion gallons at its Council Bluffs, Iowa, site alone. Meta’s data centers consumed nearly all of its 813 million gallons of reported water use.
With demand for AI accelerating, the industry’s water footprint is set to expand—raising questions for communities, regulators and investors alike.
