INYOKERN, Calif. (KGET) — A Kern County conservation district has announced it is opposing the potential data center slated to be built in the Ridgecrest and Inyokern area, citing low water levels.
The Eastern Kern County Resource Conservation District submitted a letter of opposition to the California Energy Commission saying the project would create “significant environmental impacts” and would “undermine decades of local and state efforts to achieve groundwater sustainability” in the area if built.
‘We don’t want it:’ Ridgecrest residents continue to push back against proposed data center, labor groups say not so fast
The data center proposed in Ridgecrest has been met with sharp criticism and wide-ranging concern from residents since it was announced. Besides the amount of water the facility would use, residents have also voiced opposition for the project due to air quality risks, quality of life and aesthetics concerns, noise pollution, and property and home values decreasing.
If approved, the project — formally named the Inyokern RB Data Center — would pull water from the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Basin to support its cooling towers…