Google · Meta · Amazon · U.S. · South Korea · Fortune Technology
Now, more than 50 cities across the country enacted bans or moratoria on new data center construction—including Fayetteville, Ga
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 1 source. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
◌ Single Source
Meta and Google didn’t immediately respond to Fortune ‘s request for comment.
Key facts
- The QTS campus, which currently comprises 13 buildings spanning approximately 6.2 million square feet, is projected to generate $150 to $200 million annually in property tax revenue for the city
- The Fayette County water system sent QTS a letter in May 2025 documenting retroactive charges of $147,474, which QTS paid, and no additional fines were imposed on the developer
- Google’s data centers in The Dalles, Ore., a city of 16,000, consumed 355 million gallons in 2021, roughly a quarter of the city’s total water supply
- In 2023, U.S. data centers directly consumed 17.4 billion gallons of water, a figure projected to rise to between 38 and 73 billion gallons by 2028, according to the EPA
Summary
In the first week of May, two data center developments, one in Arizona and another in Georgia, were caught taking public water without authorization. In both cases, data center developers consumed water they were expressly prohibited from taking, in communities already experiencing water stress, and in both cases it was the residents who discovered it. When residents complained of low water pressure in Georgia or dust control efforts in Arizona, they unknowingly tipped off regulators in areas fraught with depleting water supplies, and added to an escalating conflict over data center water use across the country. In 2023, U.S. data centers directly consumed 17.4 billion gallons of water, a figure projected to rise to between 38 and 73 billion gallons by 2028, according to the EPA. And so, the residential complaints in Tucson and Fayette County are part of a larger pattern. Google’s data centers in The Dalles, Ore.