(This content was created with the help of AI.) Thirsty servers are moving in on some of the nation’s driest zip codes. Quartz reports that the AI-driven rush to build massive new data centers across the American West is sharply increasing water demand in regions already struggling with drought.
In the Phoenix area alone, water use from cooling data centers is projected to jump nearly ninefold, from 385 million gallons annually to more than 3.7 billion gallons, much of it lost to evaporation through cooling towers.
The surge comes as the Colorado River basin faces mounting strain, with Lake Mead about one-third full, Lake Powell below one-quarter capacity, and Arizona already absorbing mandatory cuts to its river allocation…