Utah has taken steps to rein in water use by large data centers but conservationists and other advocates said more needs to be done to protect the state’s dwindling water resources. Lawmakers recently passed the Data Center Water Transparency Amendments, which require server farm developers to provide an estimate of future water use. The facilities often need massive amounts of water to cool their servers, particularly for artificial intelligence systems. … Utah is a rapidly growing hub for data centers, featuring 48 operational facilities with more than 900 megawatts of capacity.

Other data center water use news:

• KPBS (San Diego): Coachella residents call for data center moratorium as debate expands across Southern California
• The Salt Lake Tribune: ‘Hyperscale’ data center project in Utah — expected to generate and consume more power than entire state — nears final approval
• Cowboy State Daily (Cheyenne, Wyo.): Opposition to Cheyenne data centers grows as city moves to add them
• Financial Times (U.K.): The great American data centre divide
• California Water Blog: AI water use distractions and lessons for California