Google Releases Five Water Use Commitments for Data Centers

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   Google published a blog post outlining five commitments regarding water use at its data centers.

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   Google aims to replenish more water than it consumes at its data centers by 2030.

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   Google will invest in local water infrastructure, identify alternative water sources for its facilities, and report its annual water usage.

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   Google allocated $17 million to support water stewardship projects across seven U.S. states.

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   A Gallup survey found that more than 70 percent of Americans oppose data center construction in their local communities.

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   Half of survey respondents cited environmental resource impacts as a reason for opposing local data centers.

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   Eighteen percent of survey respondents identified high water consumption as a specific concern about data centers.

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   Ben Townsend serves as Google's global head of infrastructure and sustainability.

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   Bikash Koley serves as Google's vice president of global infrastructure.

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    Some researchers argue that Google's previous public estimates of AI water consumption omitted indirect usage in its supply chain.

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    A United Nations report projects that global data center electricity consumption will reach 945 terawatt-hours annually by 2030.

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    The report estimates that data center water consumption will meet the basic domestic needs of 1.3 billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.

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    Data center land use is projected to exceed 9,000 square miles globally by 2030, according to the report.

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    As of 2025, 90 percent of specialized artificial intelligence data center capacity is concentrated in the United States and China.

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    Artificial intelligence infrastructure is projected to generate up to 2.5 million metric tons of electronic waste annually by 2030.

16. Ben Townsend, Google global head of infrastructure and sustainability

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    "We're just one of dozens of players in the space." Ben Townsend, Google global head of infrastructure and sustainability, said.

17. Ben Townsend, Google global head of infrastructure and sustainability

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    "We think it's really important to sort of put a blueprint out there that communities can reference, so if somebody else comes and says, 'we'd like to build a data center there,' a community can say, 'well, here are five different things that really put the community and the watershed first. Are you doing these? Are you doing one of them? All of them? None of them? And if not, why?'" Ben Townsend, Google global head of infrastructure and sustainability, said.

18. Bikash Koley, Google vice president of global infrastructure

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    "In many places, water cooling can reduce data center energy use by approximately 10% compared to air cooling." Bikash Koley, Google vice president of global infrastructure, said.

19. Bikash Koley, Google vice president of global infrastructure

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    "The aggregate water consumption of data centers is small, as U.S. data centers use less than 1% of the water that Americans use on their lawns annually, but we are focused on protecting local water resources in all aspects of our data center operations." Bikash Koley, Google vice president of global infrastructure, said.

20. Ben Townsend, Google global head of infrastructure and sustainability

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    "To the best of our ability, we are accounting for the offsite water footprint, and I think we've made significant progress in reducing or eliminating the water footprint of that supply chain through our waterless renewable energy investments." Ben Townsend, Google global head of infrastructure and sustainability, said.

21. Ben Townsend, Google global head of infrastructure and sustainability

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    "Now is the time to invest to make sure that data center water use doesn't become a problem." Ben Townsend, Google global head of infrastructure and sustainability, said.

22. Miriam Aczel, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health researcher

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    "What surprised us most is how often the choices that look greenest from a carbon perspective end up worse for water or for land." Miriam Aczel, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health researcher, said.

23. Miriam Aczel, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health researcher

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    "If we keep judging AI sustainability by carbon alone, we might think that renewables make AI infrastructure clean but that is solving one problem while creating other problems, often in places that didn't ask for it." Miriam Aczel, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health researcher, said.

24. Kaveh Madani, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health director

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    "The public debate still often treats AI as software, but AI is also physical infrastructure: data centers, electricity generation, cooling systems, transmission networks, chips, minerals, land and water." Kaveh Madani, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health director, said.

25. Tshilidzi Marwala, United Nations University rector

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    "The concentrated development of AI infrastructure in the privileged areas of the world is creating a large digital divide that poses profound challenges in the equitable development of AI." Tshilidzi Marwala, United Nations University rector, said.

26. Tshilidzi Marwala, United Nations University rector

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    "Whether it does so equitably is now a governance question, not a technical one." Tshilidzi Marwala, United Nations University rector, said.