A Suicidal Waste of Fresh Water

‘Irresponsible’: backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan​

‘Irresponsible’: backlash as Utah approves datacenter twice the size of Manhattan

Facility would require more power than entire state uses and suck up vast amount of water in drought-stricken area

www.theguardian.com

Meatball Sandwich said:

Lumping the climate argument into this is a loser for the left

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GOHOX69 said:

Tech will be the undoing of society.

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Fac said:

Maybe just get rid of Democrats.

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NDallasRuss said:

I understand and agree with the larger point about that large of a datacenter complex being a net negative for the area (outside of addl taxes), but it's important to clarify the water use. They're (likely, based on my knowledge of other data centers and how they operate) not going to be drawing new fresh water for all of their needs. It's probably going to be a semi-closed loop where they initially draw in water for cooling, but then it's recirculated and cooled and reused. They'll pay (likely a higher rate) for that initial water draw, and then each time they have to replenish based on any evaporation and other loss. It's not the same kind of water loss as if they used those 40k acres for something like almond orchards and were using water for irrigation on a constant basis.

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• Evaporative Cooling (Lost to Atmosphere): Many data centers use "evaporative cooling," where water is sprayed onto cooling pads or into the air to lower the temperature of the equipment. As the water evaporates to provide this cooling, it is lost to the atmosphere. The article notes that the extreme "thermal load" from the facility would impose "substantial drying" on the surrounding watershed, as the heat and evaporation process pull moisture away.
• Discharge (Used and Sent Away): In systems that use water to carry heat away from servers, the water can become concentrated with minerals as it circulates. Eventually, this "blowdown" water must be discharged into the local sewer system or treated. It is not "lost" in the sense of disappearing, but it is removed from the immediate local ecosystem.
• Closed-Loop Systems (Recycled): Some modern data centers use closed-loop cooling, where water or coolant stays within a sealed pipe system. This water is recycled indefinitely, but these systems often still require an external cooling method (like large fans or secondary water loops) to shed the heat the closed-loop collects.

TC_Nole_OX said:

Left wing media


The Data Center Takeover of America is So Much Worse Than You Think

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1. Kevin O’Leary’s $100 Billion Utah "Stratos" Project​

• The Claim: Billionaire Kevin O'Leary announced a $100 billion, 9-gigawatt data center in Box Elder County, Utah, that would require more than double the state's current energy consumption [02:08], potentially raising local temperatures significantly [03:17].
• The Accuracy: Accurate. Local reporting from May 2026 confirms that Box Elder County commissioners unanimously approved the 40,000-acre "Stratos Project" despite fierce protests from thousands of residents. Experts from Utah State University and Brigham Young University have publically warned that dumping 7 to 8 gigawatts of waste heat could severely alter the local semi-arid microclimate, potentially raising nighttime temperatures by up to 28°F. Residents are currently gathering signatures for a referendum to block the project over fears of grid strain and the further degradation of the shrinking Great Salt Lake.

2. Meta's Richland Parish Data Center in Louisiana​

• The Claim: Meta announced a massive $10 billion data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana [01:55], which is receiving heavy tax incentives [03:39].
• The Accuracy: Accurate. Meta announced the "Hyperion" data center in Richland Parish, designed for over 2 gigawatts of compute capacity to train AI models. Recent May 2026 economic analyses show that the facility is slated to receive an estimated $3.3 billion in local and state tax breaks, sparking sharp public debate over the scale of corporate subsidies being offered to big tech firms.

3. Lake Tahoe's Energy Reallocation Crisis​

• The Claim: NV Energy told Liberty Utilities it will stop supplying wholesale power to 49,000 Lake Tahoe residents after May 2027 because it needs the capacity for data centers [08:40].
• The Accuracy: Accurate. Regulatory filings and local reporting from May 2026 confirm that Nevada-based NV Energy gave notice that it will terminate its contract to provide 75% of the power to Liberty Utilities (the provider for the California side of Lake Tahoe) effective May 2027. NV Energy is diverting its transmission and generation capacity to feed the massive surge in data center development in Northern Nevada. While utility executives state this is a "planned transition" and power won't immediately shut off, local officials and the Sierra Club have raised immense concern over finding affordable replacement contracts on less than a year's notice.

4. Elon Musk’s xAI "Colossus" Facility in Memphis​

• The Claim: xAI bypassed traditional permits to install dozens of mobile gas turbines to power its Memphis data center, emitting massive amounts of nitrogen oxides ($\text{NO}_x$) in an area already vulnerable to pollution [09:36].
• The Accuracy: Accurate. Investigative journalism and flyover footage confirmed that xAI deployed more than 30 unpermitted gas/methane turbines at its South Memphis site. The company utilized a regulatory loophole regarding "temporary" equipment to avoid standard Clean Air Act permitting. Environmental groups and the NAACP have filed lawsuits against xAI, pointing out that the massive cluster of turbines emits hundreds of tons of smog-forming $\text{NO}_x$ into a historically marginalized community already plagued by disproportionately high rates of respiratory illnesses like asthma and COPD.

Summary​