Corporate Control of Water

In addition to large-scale global threats to water, regional water supplies are facing new challenges. Large-scale commercial water bottling operations driven by private equity are an increasing risk to the stability of local water sources. But even more significant is the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI). Its associated data centers demand massive amounts of water for cooling, threatening local and regional reservoirs, aquifers, and freshwater sources.

As these commercial operations continue to scale up, water scarcity is likely to worsen. Planners can act to integrate concerns about water usage into local data center regulations.