The loudest data center fight in America, as seen from next door
… Right now, about two-thirds of data centers under construction in the U.S. are being built in drought-stricken areas like Utah. The Stratos Hyperscale Data Center has 1.6 million gallons of water per day allotted through gross diversion under historic ranch water rights on the property purchased for the site. … But independent researchers have found that, historically, because tech companies often aren’t required to report water consumption totals, it’s difficult to know just how much water data centers are really using. The 80-acre patch of kochia at the Flying M [ranch] gets watered once or twice a month, April through September. … [T]he question of how the Flying M can square their stewardship with the potential impact of one of the world’s most powerful data centers hangs in the air.
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