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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDEnvironmental science & technology

One Quarter of Global Data Centers are Located in Water-Stressed Areas.

  • Lorenzo Rosa1,2
  • Matteo Sangiorgio3
  • Bridget R Scanlon4
  • Marco Mazzotti5
  • Joseph Berry1
  • Anna M Michalak1
5 affiliations
  1. 1Biosphere Sciences and Engineering, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, California94035, United States.
  2. 2Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California94035, United States.
  3. 3Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio 34/5, 20133Milan, Italy.
  4. 4Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas78758, United States.
  5. 5Institute of Energy and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092Zurich, Switzerland.
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Abstract

The rapid growth of digital services is increasing the demand for high-performance computing within data centers, intensifying the demand for local natural resources, particularly energy and water. This study assesses the current and future exposure of all 9347 currently identified data centers worldwide to water gap conditions, areas where water demand exceeds available supply, resulting in unsustainable water consumption and an increase in water stress. We find that 25% of data centers would already have experienced at least 1 month of water gap annually under 2001-2010 hydrologic conditions. While such conditions rarely prevent continued operation, they intensify stress with other water-dependent sectors. 33% of currently identified data centers would be in regions experiencing water gaps under future hydrological conditions. Data centers overlap with water demands from municipal (41%), irrigation (28%), manufacturing (18%), and power generation (8%) sectors. The United States hosts 39% of data centers, with 21% located in water-scarce regions, where overlap with municipal and agricultural demands is pronounced. The extent to which water-stress exposure translates into operational impacts for data centers themselves or into measurable consequences for other water users remains an open question to address. Ensuring data center long-term viability will require siting and governance choices that account for local hydrological limits.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{rosa2026quarter,
  title = {{One Quarter of Global Data Centers are Located in Water-Stressed Areas.}},
  author = {Lorenzo Rosa and Matteo Sangiorgio and Bridget R Scanlon and Marco Mazzotti and Joseph Berry and Anna M Michalak},
  journal = {Environmental science \& technology},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1021/acs.est.6c08088},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42917017},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - One Quarter of Global Data Centers are Located in Water-Stressed Areas.
AU  - Lorenzo Rosa
AU  - Matteo Sangiorgio
AU  - Bridget R Scanlon
AU  - Marco Mazzotti
AU  - Joseph Berry
AU  - Anna M Michalak
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - Environmental science & technology
DO  - 10.1021/acs.est.6c08088
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42917017
AB  - The rapid growth of digital services is increasing the demand for high-performance computing within data centers, intensifying the demand for local natural resources, particularly energy and water. This study assesses the current and future exposure of all 9347 currently identified data centers worldwide to water gap conditions, areas where water demand exceeds available supply, resulting in unsustainable water consumption and an increase in water stress. We find that 25% of data centers would already have experienced at least 1 month of water gap annually under 2001-2010 hydrologic conditions. While such conditions rarely prevent continued operation, they intensify stress with other water-dependent sectors. 33% of currently identified data centers would be in regions experiencing water gaps under future hydrological conditions. Data centers overlap with water demands from municipal (41%), irrigation (28%), manufacturing (18%), and power generation (8%) sectors. The United States hosts 39% of data centers, with 21% located in water-scarce regions, where overlap with municipal and agricultural demands is pronounced. The extent to which water-stress exposure translates into operational impacts for data centers themselves or into measurable consequences for other water users remains an open question to address. Ensuring data center long-term viability will require siting and governance choices that account for local hydrological limits.
SN  - 0013-936X
SN  - 1520-5851
ER  -