Reading about the farmers facing water challenges due to drought in Yakima Valley (“How WA’s drought strains the Yakima Valley,” Nov. 16, Climate Lab), I was then struck by the article “Gen Z can’t save the planet while doomscrolling it dry” (Nov. 16, Opinion). The leaked internal document at Amazon that was referenced in the latter regarding its data centers consuming 105 billion gallons of water in 2021 was quite eye-opening (and that was four years ago, so I would assume that number — along with the increase in its data centers — has only continued to grow).
In thinking about climate change and how water resources are being impacted as a result, I hope that cities and rural areas that agree to have data centers built also mandate that as part of building a data center, that some type of industrial water reuse facility is also put in place. Or even better, a waterless/dry cooling system.
Yes, data centers provide opportunities for employment, but the energy and the water that is consumed seems to be a challenge that could snowball quickly.
Carrie Hanley, Sammamish
