Ohio’s rising in the ranks in terms of data center developments, having the fifth-highest concentration of these projects nationwide.
As more proposals come down the pipeline, concerns mount for data centers’ impacts on natural resources, such as water.
An Ohio Chamber of Commerce report finds within the next four years, Ohio’s not at any risk of running out of water if this industry grows.
However, it may not be the availability that’s the issue.
Responding to public worry about water use
The Chamber of Commerce completed this study in response to public input on water use for data centers, said Demetrius Thomas, executive director of the Ohio Chamber Research Foundation and lead researcher for the report.
Hyperscale data centers are known to be large water users because of certain equipment cooling methods.
The report focused on two regions making up the lion’s share of Ohio’s data center growth: central Ohio and the Cincinnati-Dayton region.
“So we wanted to make sure we took a look and got the real facts from public, available data to understand what was really going on, how much water was being used by data centers, is it a problem, is it problem in terms of concentration that we're seeing in terms of central Ohio and then the growth in other parts of the state, and should we do something different?” Thomas said.
The research found in Central Ohio, data centers will account for 8% of the region’s human water consumption and 0.25% to 0.5% of total available water resources by 2030.
In the Cincinnati-Dayton region, data centers will account for 1% of the region’s consumption and less than 0.1% of the region’s total water availability.
“The central takeaway that we had is that Ohio is just well positioned in terms of being able to meet the demand for water due to the aggregate water capacity that Ohio has, and we can see it really supporting data center growth through 2030, if that's the choice,” Thomas said.
The research foundation didn’t forecast water demands for data centers in these regions beyond 2030 since “things are happening so fast," Thomas said.
“We didn't want to go too far in the future just because no one really knows what's going to happen and how this will evolve in the long term so we wanted to take a near-term view of what's happening now, how can we make the best decisions now for our communities and for our state,” Thomas said.
Water considerations beyond quantity
But the report also states water availability wouldn’t be the limiting factor.
"The key near-term question for Ohio is not whether the state has enough water to support data center growth, but whether planning, infrastructure delivery, watershed protection and public communication can keep pace with that growth," the report reads.
In fact, the study indicates the largest source of water demand will likely come from energy generation required to power these centers, not data center cooling methods.
“Energy generation, besides solar and wind, typically uses water in the process for cooling (to) make sure that energy gets produced and safely transmitted to the places that it's needed,” Thomas said.
As environmental concerns come to bear, residents and lawmakers alike are trying to assess whether more data centers are compatible with their communities – or deter their development altogether.
That includes a citizen-led petition to implement a statewide ban on large-scale data centers, the creation of a joint data center committee at the statehouse, city governments issuing local moratoriums on new projects, and a recent cessation of new data center tax breaks.
Shortly after the release of the report, the chamber used this research to advocate for restoring tax breaks for data centers, stating the tax exemption should be “modernized” with stricter conditions to strengthen accountability “that do not deter investment,” according to a testimony it submitted to the data center committee on June 11.
Miami Conservancy District chimes in on water scenarios for Miami Valley
In terms of water, some of those conditions the chamber recommends include best-practice water conservation, annual water usage effectiveness reporting, and stronger local control and site assessment authority.
The Miami Conservancy District, the Southwest Ohio flood management agency, has also been active at the capital to offer their perspective as stewards of 6,600 miles of rivers and streams, including the Great Miami River. That water should be part of the conversation early, according to the conservancy district.
“We have water for a lot of different users in our Buried Valley Aquifer. But that only remains true if we properly plan for the amount that we would be allowing to have taken out,” said Sarah Hippensteel Hall, communications manager for the conservancy district.
Last year, the Ohio EPA proposed a general permit for wastewater discharge from data centers that would streamline application processes. The conservancy district called for monitoring data center wastewater for contaminants and temperature, addressing variability in data center cooling and water use, excluding rivers and streams with ecological designations from permit coverage, and protecting aquifer recharge areas.
“Water does not care about jurisdictional boundaries. But it's the state and federal laws that are already overseeing some of that activity,” Hippensteel Hall said.
Changes in temperature could stress aquatic life, she said.
MCD recommends “strong monitoring requirements” for chloride, nitrate, phosphorus and sodium from these facilities.
The Chamber of Commerce said 95% of Ohio’s data centers are connected to local water and wastewater infrastructure, “meaning virtually no direct discharge to Ohio surface waters.” But that need not always be the case.
“So if those large users are also the ones that would be sending that water back into our aquifer and recharging it, then we've got a renewable resource. But, that's only if we plan properly,” Hippensteel Hall said.
The Conservancy District is also working on a report to assess groundwater vulnerability in a diversion scenario, where water is withdrawn and sent outside of the Great Miami watershed.
