数据中心的水问题是可以解决的

ROBIN GASTER|JULY 2026 Technology exists, and policy instruments are available, to develop a new, state-led model ofwater governance for data centers and other large industrial users. What’s missing is institutionalcoordination, regulatory specificity, and a set of standardized mechanisms and metrics. KEY TAKEAWAYS Data centers consume water both directly for cooling and indirectly by generatingelectricity. Indirect consumption is more than 10x direct consumption, but overall, datacenters account for a very small fraction of total U.S. consumption. New technologies now make it possible to consume almost zero water directly for datacenter cooling. They are a bit more expensive, but close-to-zero water consumption ispossible. Some hyperscalers are adopting zero-water designs. Indirect consumption is more challenging. Water use for power generation depends on thechoice of power technology (e.g., gas consumes much more water than solar does) and onthe local climate. But water use for power can be managed where that’s needed. There is no national water shortage, but there are significant shortages in arid regionssuch as Arizona, and in drought-stricken areas such as California. Each watershed hasdifferent water capacity and different existing users. Water consumption is regulated by the states, not the federal government, so policy mustbe driven by state regulation, focused on specific watersheds. States should require all large industrial users to disclose water-use data. Water useshould be tied to performance standards rather than adoption of specific technologies.And water and electricity regulators should develop joint review protocols. The federal government should expand R&D for low-water-use electricity, developstandard metrics for water consumption, and use procurement levers to encourage watersavings where appropriate. Federal water-use mandates unnecessary. CONTENTS Key Takeaways................................................................................................................... 1Introduction....................................................................................................................... 2Water Consumption ............................................................................................................ 3Technologies for Data Center Cooling ................................................................................... 5Water for Energy—Cooling Power Plants ............................................................................... 6Water for Energy—The Regulatory Dimension........................................................................ 8The Political Dimension ...................................................................................................... 9Policy Recommendations .................................................................................................. 101. Mandatory Disclosure With Standardized Data Elements ............................................... 102. Review by Watershed (Not National Mandates) Using Performance Standards (NotTechnology Mandates) ............................................................................................... 113. Integrated Water-Energy Review ................................................................................. 134. The Federal Role: Metrics, Procurement, and R&D—Not General Water Preemption ........ 14Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 15Endnotes......................................................................................................................... 16 INTRODUCTION As hyperscalers race to deploy hundreds of new gigawatts (GW) in data center capacity in theUnited States to keep up with growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI), their expected useof water will grow too. Some fear that this growth will put too much stress on local watershedsand therefore want to halt data center construction. But a closer look shows a much morenuanced—and overall, significantly less challenging—situation; one that policymakers canmanage through better oversight and transparency. Data centers consume water in two distinct ways: directly for cooling, and indirectly for electricitygeneration. Past solutions for cooling data centers relied heavily on water, but that won’t work aschips get hotter, racks get denser, and the number of data centers increases substantially.Fortunately, new cooling technologies are emerging that offer superior cooling with limited orzero water consumption. Indirect water consumption for cooling gas and nuclear plants that will provide much of theenergy for data centers—and consumptive evaporation from reservoirs for hydro plants—is thereal elephant in the pool. That indirect use consumes about 12 times the amount of waterneeded directly for data center cooling, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL).1