… [A] group of residents is gathering signatures for a potential November 2026 ballot initiative that would block data centers in Imperial County altogether. They’re calling it the “Imperial County Data Center Prohibition Act.” … [Developer Sebastian] Rucci has proposed obtaining 6 million gallons per day of reclaimed water from Imperial and El Centro to cool a massive data center, which would use 750,000 gallons a day. Rucci said the unused water would be funneled into the Salton Sea to ameliorate environmental damage there. Reclaimed water from both cities is already channeled into the sea, though at a lesser level of treatment, so the project would ultimately result in less water in the sea.

Other data center water use news:

• Reuters: Investors press Amazon, Microsoft and Google on water, power use in US data centers
• Sedona Red Rock News (Ariz.): Turing-Rossum AGI to build $71.3M ‘sustainable’ AI data center across from Sedona wastewater plant
• Cowboy State Daily (Cheyenne, Wyo.): Why there’s a growing opposition to data centers across rural America
• Arizona Capitol Times (Phoenix): Opinion: Arizona has what it needs for its AI future