… [T]he second-largest new data center being considered statewide … would be less than half a mile from … the center of Imperial Valley. If finished by 2028, as the developer expects, the at least 950,000-square-foot, two-story data center could be the largest operating statewide, taking up 17 football fields’ worth of land. The roughly $10 billion, 330-megawatt data center would require 750,000 gallons of water a day to operate, said developer Sebastian Rucci, who insists electricity and water costs won’t rise due to the data center. … On top of the data center boom in California, the hundreds of water districts, a deepening Southwestern megadrought and the diminishing of the Colorado River increasingly complicate water issues. 

Other data center water use news:

• Utah Public Radio: Despite a new law, conservationists are worried about AI water use in Utah
• Reno Gazette-Journal (Nev.): DRI brief details Nevada data center water, electricity use
• Wyoming Public Media: Data center growth shifts toward rural America, including the Mountain West, report finds