Urgent Need for Data Center Water Usage Regulation and Transparency

The rapid growth of data centers across our nation demands immediate legislative action to protect our vital water resources. With over 5,300 data centers in the United States consuming vast amounts of water for cooling and electricity generation, we face an urgent environmental crisis that requires your immediate attention and decisive action. Data centers now rank among the top 10 water-consuming industries in our country, drawing water from 90% of U.S. watersheds. Alarmingly, 20% of these facilities are tapping into already stressed watersheds in the western United States, exacerbating water scarcity issues in regions already grappling with drought. The scale of this problem is staggering. Global digital data is projected to increase 146-fold from 2010 to 2025, indicating that water demand from data centers will only continue to surge. What's more concerning is the lack of transparency: many data center operators do not even monitor their water usage, leaving us in the dark about the true extent of their environmental impact. I urge you to introduce and support legislation that mandates strict regulation of data center water usage and requires full transparency from corporations regarding their water consumption. This legislation should include: 1. Mandatory water usage monitoring and reporting for all data centers. 2. Strict limits on water extraction from stressed watersheds. 3. Requirements for data centers to implement water-efficient cooling systems and explore alternative cooling technologies. 4. Incentives for data centers to use recycled water and on-site treatment systems. 5. Penalties for non-compliance and excessive water consumption. We cannot allow corporate interests to prioritize profits over the health of our ecosystems and communities' access to clean water. As your constituent, I demand that you take a stand against the unrestrained corporate greed that threatens to pollute our landscape, poison our drinking water, and destroy our ecosystems. Time is of the essence. With each passing day, more water is being diverted to these facilities without proper oversight. We need you to act now to protect our water resources for current and future generations. I will be closely monitoring your actions on this issue and expect to see concrete steps taken within the next legislative session to address this critical environmental concern.