Bobby Lapointe for MWDOC, Division 2

Data Centers

Data centers have quickly become one of the important and contentious political issues today. One of the major concerns the public has about data centers is their water use for cooling purposes. In a state that now faces regular droughts, it’s fair to ask the tough questions:

  • Should there be data centers in Orange County?
  • How much water should they be allowed to use?

The first question is already moot. Data centers are here: two in Irvine, one in Anaheim, and one in Santa Ana. They are not necessarily the sprawling campuses depicted in national headlines. The term “data center” covers facilities with dramatically different sizes and cooling demands. But the second question is still salient. How can we plan for the future, and balance the water needs of data centers and the public?

Companies Should Pay Their Fair Share

The central principle I argue for when it comes to data centers is this:

Growth pays for growth.

If a company wants to build a data center in Orange County that requires new water infrastructure to support its needs, then that company should pay the lion’s share of the cost. And that infrastructure should be designed to serve the needs of the public for decades to come, even if the data center later halts its operations.

This principle ensures fairness, avoids a boom-and-bust mentality, and ensures that Orange County residents derive concrete benefits from data center operations in their communities.

A Middle Path

I reject the idea that Orange County only has two options:

  • Oppose data center development entirely, so companies decide to build elsewhere.
  • Throw open the doors and give companies whatever they want.

There is a third option: lead. Tech companies need our land, workforce, resources, and markets to build and promote their products. That is leverage. We should use it rather than surrender it. How do we do that?

By planning early. I propose a regional Orange County Data Center Water Suitability Study to identify factors that influence data center construction across the entire county, such as water availability and reliability, access to non-potable water, locations of culturally and spiritually significant tribal sites, and more.

Looking out ten years, twenty years, and beyond, I want us to be able to say that we met this moment, and the presence of data centers in our communities led to the development of reliable water infrastructure that can serve our needs for generations to come.

“Roman engineers built aqueducts that are still standing today, 2,000 years later. Let us be good ancestors and leave our children with infrastructure that gives them a secure water future.”

Bobby Lapointe

Go deeper

For a deeper dive into the topic of data centers and water use, and what policies I propose, see my Substack piece.

Read on Substack
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