Big Tech lobbyists pushed EU to hide data centre water use
Lobbyists for Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta have succeeded in getting the European Commission to keep data on data center water consumption secret, European investigative journalists have found. The huge amounts of fresh water needed to cool servers are fueling local conflicts over water resources amid a global drought.
Protests against data center construction are breaking out around the world, with the issue particularly acute in countries with arid climates. Yet even more efficient algorithms are not reducing water consumption, but are actually driving it higher. By 2030, AI’s water consumption will triple, the Rystad Energy consultancy warns, with AI consuming as much fresh water as the entire populations of Poland or Greece.
Where the problem comes from
Behind the lightning-fast responses of AI chatbots are data centers — massive industrial facilities that, from the outside, may look like nothing more than e-commerce warehouses. The servers inside them, however, which continuously train and run neural networks, require large amounts of clean fresh water for power generation and cooling. Demand is only expected to grow. Between 2025 and 2030, AI’s fresh water consumption is projected to double to around 9 trillion liters a year, roughly equivalent to the annual water consumption of countries such as Greece (~9.6 trillion liters) or Poland (~10.5 trillion liters).
The more complex the query, the more water it consumes. A search query in Google Gemini has a water footprint roughly equivalent to a miniature perfume sample (2.37 ml), while generating a short video requires more than 4 liters, according to a calculation by The Insider based on research by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH).
The industry is displaying a Jevons paradox in which making a resource more efficiently does not reduce its level of consumption but instead increases it. As engineers improve algorithms and cooling systems, the cost of an individual query falls, making the technology so much cheaper and so much more accessible that it consumes ever more inputs.
In short, without strict limits on the volume of AI-generated content, lower costs will continue to drive an explosive increase in users and operations. As a result, efficiency gains are more than offset by the sheer scale of AI adoption. Efforts to make the technology greener thus have the opposite effect, leading to even greater water consumption.
The high cost of saving water
AI’s water footprint is generally divided into three interconnected levels: direct and indirect water consumption connected with the physical AI infrastructure, and water use associated with the supply chain.
Direct water consumption is the fresh water used at data centers to remove heat from servers. This is most commonly done with air-handling units, in which about 80% of the water drawn is lost as vapor and removed from the local hydrological system. Data centers therefore need a constant supply of fresh water to replace what evaporates.
Water is also consumed in the mandatory blowdown of cooling systems, which prevents salt crystallization and limescale buildup in pipes. Unsurprisingly, in arid regions the strain on local water supplies from direct water consumption is significantly greater than elsewhere.
Indirect water consumption refers to the water used to generate the electricity that powers data centers. Traditional thermal power plants that burn coal or gas require significant amounts of fresh water to cool steam turbines. The scale of this indirect footprint depends on the structure of the local power grid and the fuels it uses. Coal-fired plants are the most “thirsty,” consuming about 70,000 liters of water per megawatt-hour of electricity generated — roughly the capacity of a standard rail tanker. Natural gas plants consume only around one-seventh of that per megawatt-hour, while solar and wind generation requires virtually no water — 200 and 10 liters per megawatt-hour, respectively.
Corporations could eliminate their reliance on potable water by treating industrial and municipal wastewater instead. Elon Musk, for example, is building a plant in Memphis to treat municipal wastewater using ceramic membranes for reuse in xAI’s operations. But this requires multimillion-dollar upfront investments in equipment, as well as ongoing maintenance costs. In general, tech giants only invest in advanced closed-loop water treatment when they face resistance from local authorities or acute water shortages in a particular region.
IT giants only build full-cycle advanced water-treatment systems when faced with resistance from local authorities or acute resource shortages
There are also alternatives to evaporative cooling that can reduce freshwater consumption. One is cold-plate cooling, in which a mixture of water and propylene glycol circulates through tubes inside metal plates attached to processors. The liquid absorbs heat from the chips and flows to a dedicated heat exchanger, where it releases the heat before returning to the processors cooled. Because liquid coolant draws heat from the chips far more efficiently than air, a data center using this system can cut water consumption by 52% compared with air-cooled systems.
Another option is single-phase immersion cooling, in which servers are submerged in synthetic hydrocarbon oils. But this method leaves a sticky residue on the equipment that is difficult to remove, making repairs and component replacement considerably more difficult.
Adopting these technologies also requires substantial capital investment, changes to server architecture, and modifications to data center buildings. Corporations therefore also use the environmentally harmful technology of two-phase immersion cooling. In this system, servers are submerged in a special fluid that boils when heated by the processors, turns into vapor, and then condenses back into liquid, carrying away enormous amounts of heat.
The environmental problem is the use of fluorinated PFAS compounds, “forever chemicals”. They are highly toxic and have been linked to cancer, liver disease, and immune-system problems. PFAS are highly persistent, accumulate in the environment, and can break down into other hazardous compounds. The EU describes PFAS pollution as a significant, long-term threat to human health and ecosystems and is pursuing a broad restriction on the substances. Because of these risks, the use of PFAS-based cooling technology could soon face regulatory restrictions.
Water is being pumped away from the world’s poorest
More than 90% of the world’s specialized AI computing capacity is controlled by the United States and China, while more than 150 countries lack sovereign AI infrastructure of their own.
However, in their race to maximize profits, multinational technology companies are increasingly locating resource-intensive data centers in the Global South, where fresh water and electricity are significantly cheaper and environmental standards less stringent. Developing countries receive only a small share of the revenues while bearing enormous environmental costs: depleted water supplies and millions of tons of toxic electronic waste in the form of obsolete data-center servers exported to developing countries.
Latin America has become a key battleground in the struggle over water.
In Uruguay in 2023, amid the country’s worst drought in 74 years, it emerged that a new Google data center planned for the department of Canelones would consume 7.6 million liters of fresh water a day, equivalent to the daily household water needs of 55,000 Uruguayans. Public outrage, with residents arguing that drinking water mattered more than servers, forced Google to revise its plans and switch to air cooling.
A similar protest erupted in Chile, where Google planned to draw 169 liters of water per second on the outskirts of Santiago, despite years of water shortages in the region. Local residents took the case to an environmental court, which partially blocked the permit, forcing the company to suspend its $40 million project. “We all love the internet, but not at the expense of our water resources,” Chilean activist Rodrigo Vallejos told The Guardian, adding that the large number of data centers in the area had caused water levels in the Quilicura wetland to fall noticeably.
We all love the internet, but not at the expense of our water resources
“We don’t need more data centers stealing our water here so that people in the Global North can make funny AI pictures,” Tanya Rodriguez, founder of Mosacat, a Chilean grassroots movement campaigning for land and water rights, told The Guardian.
In Mexico, Google, Microsoft and Amazon have invested around $10 billion in 32 new data centers in the arid state of Querétaro. The local aquifer is already facing an annual shortfall of 60 million liters, and Microsoft alone has secured rights to draw 25 million liters. The plans have sparked fierce opposition from residents of Colón, prompting Amazon to promise that it will use only air cooling there.
In Argentina, the government is attracting AI projects to Patagonia with special tax incentives for major investments. Yet environmental safeguards, water-use limits, and long-term planning are being largely ignored.
The expansion of hyperscale data centers is also underway in extremely arid parts of the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as in India and South Africa, where water shortages are being exacerbated by climate change. Efforts to find a compromise rely on water diplomacy and agreements on the joint management of transboundary water resources. The process brings together a wide range of actors, from multinational technology companies to municipal authorities, research institutions and local communities. So far, they have managed to prevent local conflicts over resources and integrate the water-intensive digital economy into environmental law. But tensions are likely to intensify.
Internal dehydration: competing with agriculture for water
Tensions are also rising within wealthy countries. Agriculture and local communities are increasingly competing with tech giants for fresh water.
The United States has more data centers than any other country, and about two-thirds of all new data centers built or under development in the U.S. since 2022 are located in regions already experiencing high water stress. In Texas, for example, data center water consumption is expected to reach 1.51 trillion liters by 2030, accounting for 7% of the state’s total water consumption. In arid Arizona, which has become a major tech hub, severe droughts have not deterred corporations. Google’s data center in Mesa alone is permitted to consume 5.5 million cubic meters of water a year — roughly the household needs of 23,000 local residents.
“Putting water-intensive data centers in a hot desert is not the best starting point… And putting them in a hot desert in the middle of a drought is even more absurd, because that water is priceless,” says Ed Hendel, president of Arizona-based Sky Island AI. His business depends on data centers, but he says they should be built elsewhere.
Polling from August 2026 shows growing public opposition to data centers being built near residential areas in the U.S.: 75% of Americans said they would oppose a data center being built near their home, while 61% said they would “strongly oppose” such a proposal. Among Republicans, net support fell from 14% to -43%, while among Democrats, it fell from -8% to -75%.
75% of Americans said they would oppose a data center being built near their home
Chemical contamination of water systems is emerging as a serious threat. As only pure water evaporates from cooling towers, dissolved minerals, salts and chemicals accumulate in the remaining blowdown water. Many data centers are located in agricultural areas where groundwater already contains nitrates from decades of fertilizer use, and the data center cooling process can significantly increase the concentration of these substances, turning discharged water into a toxic stream that contaminates local ecosystems.
In March 2026, Amazon agreed to pay $20.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in Oregon. Local residents alleged that highly concentrated wastewater from the company’s cooling systems had caused nitrate levels in groundwater in Morrow and Umatilla counties to rise to critical levels, making well water undrinkable for tens of thousands of people.
The case has created a legal precedent under which a data center can be classified as an active generator of hazardous waste. AI infrastructure could therefore fall under laws governing toxic substances, such as America’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, opening a new and complex legal front in water diplomacy and the protection of local communities’ rights.
Residents living near a Meta data center in Georgia have complained that the construction and operation of the facility have damaged their private wells. They say the water now becomes dirty even after the lightest rain.
Environmental pressures are also mounting in Europe, particularly in Spain, where 75% of the country is at high risk of desertification. Yet in the northern agricultural region of Aragon, Amazon is planning a major expansion. Three planned data centers have been licensed to draw roughly 755,720 cubic meters of water a year. That is enough to irrigate more than 200 hectares of corn, one of the region’s main crops.
The aggressive expansion is provoking resistance from local residents. Spanish farmers say the water consumed by AI servers is literally being taken from their fields. In response, grassroots groups such as “Tu Nube Seca Mi Río” (“Your Cloud Dries Up My River”) have emerged, calling for a moratorium on new data center construction in water-stressed regions.
Their central argument is becoming a rallying cry across developed countries: both people and data centers need water, but human life and food security are more important than AI.
“Not in my backyard”
In the U.S., state governments have begun introducing new laws to curb data center construction. New York, for example, imposed the country’s first one-year moratorium on environmental permits for new data centers with a capacity of 50 MW or more. During the pause, officials must develop clear standards for assessing the facilities’ impact on the climate and water resources.
Similar moratorium proposals have already been introduced in at least 15 states. In Monterey Park, California, voters used a referendum to secure a complete and indefinite ban on data center construction within city limits. Federal lawmakers, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have gone further, proposing an “AI Data Center Moratorium Act” covering the entire country. The bill would freeze construction of facilities with a capacity above 20 MW until comprehensive legislation is adopted.
In 2023, data centers in Ireland consumed 21% of the country’s electricity — more than all urban households combined. Citing heavy strain on the grid and the risk of outages, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities suspended new data center connections in the Dublin area until 2028.
Authorities in Amsterdam have similarly banned the construction of large data centers, defining them by law as facilities that cover more than 10 hectares and draw at least 70 MW. In early 2026, however, Microsoft found a way around the restriction, by obtaining permission to replace a single-story complex with three 85-meter-high towers, each drawing 26 MW. Because the buildings were designed vertically, the project remained within the land-use limit, while each tower was legally classified as a separate facility and therefore fell outside the regulator’s definition.
How the IT lobby broke EU laws
An April 2026 Investigate Europe report revealed an aggressive lobbying campaign by tech giants in the EU. It found that Microsoft and industry group DigitalEurope, which represents Amazon, Google, and Meta, had secured a special provision in EU rules that conceals the true environmental impact of data centers.
After the draft amendments to the EU Energy Efficiency Directive were published in late 2023, Microsoft and DigitalEurope submitted their own proposal to EU officials. Microsoft’s representatives suggested classifying all individual data-center metrics as commercial secrets.
Remarkably, when the European Commission published the final document in March 2024, the lobbyists’ proposed provision appeared almost verbatim. The rules require the Commission and EU member states to keep individual data-center information strictly confidential, including water consumption.
In the final document published by the European Commission, the lobbyists’ proposed provision appeared almost verbatim
The measure was discussed and adopted under the European Commission’s simplified delegated-acts procedure, meaning civil society, the media, and relevant European Parliament committees had no formal role in the process. Under this procedure, the Commission adopts the legislation itself, while the European Parliament and the Council of the EU do not vote on it or amend it; they can only veto the text in its entirety. They did not. The lack of an open, multilevel debate allowed the corporations to avoid broader scrutiny.
In early 2025, a senior Commission official sent letters to EU member-state authorities instructing them to reject requests from the public and media for the data to be disclosed. Law professor Jerzy Jendrośka, who worked with bodies overseeing the Aarhus Convention (which guarantees the public’s right to access environmental information) argues that this is a direct violation of the agreement. He says he cannot recall a comparable case in his two decades of work.
Tech companies planning to invest more than €176 billion in expanding their European infrastructure over the next five years are also pushing to ease regulatory barriers further. A proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation to accelerate environmental assessments would, for example, impose a 90-day limit on public hearings and shorten the timelines for environmental reviews, facilitating faster approval of new data centers.
European Commission documents obtained by journalists show that, shortly before the draft legislation was published, Microsoft met with a Commission representative to discuss ways to streamline the “permitting process.” The law that came into force contains no robust mechanism requiring data-center operators to report resource use directly to the European Commission. As a result, only about 36% of European data centers submitted data. The Commission acknowledges that only a small share of those figures has been verified.
Under its new AI development plan, Brussels intends to triple Europe’s data-center capacity by 2030.
Corporate water diplomacy and “greenwashing”
Facing the threat of regulation and mass protests, leading technology companies have embraced a strategy of corporate water diplomacy. Giants such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have made ambitious public commitments to become water-positive by 2030, promising to replenish more water than they consume.
The companies are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in environmental and infrastructure projects worldwide, including repairing leaking municipal pipelines, introducing smart irrigation systems, using treated wastewater, and restoring ecosystems.
Google, for example, says it replenished more than 7 billion gallons of water through 165 projects across 97 watersheds in 2025. Microsoft has also reported progress, saying that in fiscal year 2025 it replenished more water globally than it withdrew.
But this practice is often criticized as “greenwashing.” Researchers and environmental groups point out that, unlike carbon emissions, water is a fundamentally local issue. Cutting carbon emissions or purchasing clean-energy credits anywhere in the world can benefit the global climate, while freshwater withdrawals, by contrast, have the greatest impact where the water is actually taken, meaning the fact that a corporation restores wetlands in Ireland or funds pipeline repairs on the other side of the world does little to help farmers in Spain or communities in Latin America whose water supplies are being depleted to support data centers. Water may be drawn from a vulnerable source to handle AI queries from around the world, while the impact is offset only in corporations’ aggregated global accounts.
European regulators are responding by calling for actual local water consumption to be separated from dispersed offsetting programs and the EU is already introducing mandatory location-specific disclosure of water-use data. The goal is to ensure that tech giants mitigate the impact of their operations in the communities where they consume resources, rather than use investments elsewhere to create the appearance of environmental responsibility.
To prevent the digital revolution from triggering a global resource crisis, governments and civil society will need to work together, backed by laws that put people’s basic needs and food security ahead of expanding computing capacity. Technological progress is inevitable, but it must be brought within the framework of environmental law. Otherwise, the price of every AI query could prove too high for the planet.
Head of Investigations
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