Assurances that a “highly efficient hybrid cooling system” will keep a proposed AI data center from sucking up all the water in the already overdrafted Indian Wells Valley fell flat with residents who’ve bombarded the state with negative comments on the proposal. The proposed RB Inyokern Data Center being championed by R&L Capital, Inc. would only use up to 50 acre feet a year to keep its whirring data halls cool, according to an application filed with the California Energy Commission in late April. A “will serve letter” issued to R&L Capital, Inc. by the Inyokern Community Services District commits to providing about that same amount. But desert residents aren’t buying it.

Other data center water use news:

• Bakersfield Californian: Data center proposed in Inyokern draws water, other concerns in east Kern
• Cowboy State Daily (Cheyenne, Wyo.): As data centers boom, Wyomingites want to know where the water’s coming from
• The Salt Lake Tribune: Navajo Nation leaders oppose data center in Page, Arizona
• KSL (Salt Lake City): Box Elder data center organizers withdraw water rights application, nulling protest letters
• The Land Desk: Blog: Data center watch, Stratos project edition