AI data centres are becoming a focus of local protests in drought-prone parts of the US, where residents fear their water, energy and pollution impacts. Although their overall water use remains small compared with agriculture and some manufacturing, rapid AI expansion could intensify local shortages unless companies improve cooling, energy sources and site selection.

Researchers estimate data-centre cooling used 66 billion litres of water in 2023, under 1% of US consumption, but forecasts put total annual US data-centre water demand at 731 billion to 1,125 billion litres by 2030. Older claims that a chatbot query used 500 ml are already outdated as models become more efficient; Google estimated five drops for a typical Gemini query in 2025. Experts say renewable power, less water-intensive cooling and locating facilities in water-rich regions could cut AI’s future water footprint by up to 86%.