San Joaquin County supervisors have temporarily halted approvals for new large-scale data centers, giving county officials time to study how the rapidly growing industry could affect electricity, groundwater, agriculture and surrounding communities. The Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 Tuesday to adopt an urgency ordinance establishing a 45-day moratorium on new land-use approvals for data centers in unincorporated San Joaquin County. … County staff identified several issues it plans to examine, including potential strains on the electrical grid, increased electricity costs for residents, groundwater demands, emergency response needs and effects from heat, noise, vibration and diesel backup generators. Water is one of the county’s concerns because portions of San Joaquin County are within the critically overdrafted Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Basin and the Tracy Subbasin.

Other data center water use news:

• Bloomberg Government: Data centers pitched as less thirsty than farms in message pivot
• The Salt Lake Tribune: Most Utahns oppose building more data centers. Here’s what they want done about them.
• Las Vegas Review-Journal: ‘Nevadans can’t drink tax dollars’: Voters uneasy on data centers, water ahead of election