A new study by a University of California, Riverside research team in collaboration with Caltech reports that the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and cloud computing is straining community water systems across the United States, requiring billions of dollars in new infrastructure to meet peak water demands for data center cooling. The findings were released on Mar. 12.
The issue is significant because data centers rely on large volumes of water to keep millions of servers cool, especially during the hottest days when demand can spike dramatically. Without improvements in water efficiency, researchers estimate that by 2030, data center cooling systems could require an additional 697 million to 1.45 billion gallons of peak daily water capacity—comparable to the typical daily supply for New York City.
Shaolei Ren, associate professor at UC Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering and lead author of the study, said the cost for necessary infrastructure upgrades could range from $10 billion to $58 billion depending on how quickly data centers expand. “Even if you have money, the water source is another challenge,” Ren said. “In many cases, the water is naturally replenished by snowpack and reservoirs. But reservoirs and snowpack are limited. You may have money to build treatment plants and pipes, but money can’t buy more snowpack.”
The report notes that while annual total water use figures often appear modest, peak summer demand from evaporative cooling systems can be six to ten times higher than average usage—and sometimes even exceed thirty times average levels for certain planned facilities. This forces local utilities to invest in infrastructure capable of handling these rare but intense peaks.
Ren and his co-authors recommend that developers report peak as well as annual water use figures and partner with communities to fund needed upgrades so costs do not fall solely on local ratepayers. They also suggest adding enough capacity through new infrastructure or efficiency measures to offset their own use and preserve supplies for future growth.
“People recognize power as a constraint for data center growth,” Ren said, “but most of them haven’t realized water is a hidden and even more binding constraint in many communities.”
