Ceres Report Reveals Data Centers Consume 3.4 Trillion Gallons of Freshwater Annually for Power Generation
Data centers across seven U.S. states depend on roughly 3.4 trillion gallons of freshwater annually for electricity generation, according to a report published August 25, 2026 by Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit. The report, titled "Water Behind the Watts: The Hidden Risk of Powering Data Centers," examines water consumption tied to data center power demand in Virginia, Texas, California, Illinois, Georgia, Ohio, and Arizona, which collectively host about half of all U.S. data centers Ceres.
The central finding reframes the water-risk conversation around data centers. Power generation, not on-site cooling, makes up the bulk of data center water use. The 3.4 trillion gallons consumed annually for electricity across the seven analyzed states is approximately 12 times the combined annual water use of Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C. Ceres.
State-level figures from the report illustrate the scale. In 2024, electric generators powering data centers withdrew 1.4 trillion gallons of water in California and 753 billion gallons in Virginia Bloomberg Government. Data centers currently consume more than 4% to 5% of total U.S. electricity Ceres. For context, a typical data center uses about 300,000 gallons of water per day for cooling operations alone Brookings.
The geographic overlap between water-intensive power generation and water stress is a core concern in the report. Sixty-six percent of power plants using water for generation in these states were exposed to medium-high to extremely high water stress. Many of the plants supplying water-intensive generation sit in regions already facing drought conditions or chronic water stress Ceres.
The trajectory compounds the problem. Annual water use associated with data center electricity consumption is projected to increase by approximately 400% in the coming years. Water used directly for data center cooling is projected to grow by about 870% over the same period Ceres Brookings. These projections are driven by the accelerating buildout of AI training and inference infrastructure, which demands higher power density and, consequently, greater cooling loads per rack.
The report outlines steps that power producers, data center operators, policymakers, and investors can take to assess and address water-related risks. Recommendations span siting decisions, water-efficient generation technologies, cooling system design, and disclosure practices for investors evaluating exposure to water-constrained basins Ceres.
The broader context here is that the industry has spent the last two years focused on whether the grid can supply enough megawatts, and on securing power purchase agreements for nuclear and renewable capacity. The Ceres report widens that aperture: the constraint is not only electrons but the water required to generate them. In water-stressed basins like the Colorado River watershed or stressed aquifers in Virginia's Loudoun County corridor, the competition between power plant cooling, agricultural use, and municipal supply is already real. Operators selecting sites on the basis of available power may be underweighting water risk in the generation supply chain, not just in their own facilities.
For infrastructure planners, the report's framing has practical implications. A facility sited near a thermoelectric plant in a high-stress basin carries embedded water risk that may not appear in the operator's own water footprint accounting but will surface in power contracts, regulatory scrutiny, or community opposition as demand scales. Investors and operators evaluating the 400% projected growth in generation-related water use will need to model water constraints alongside carbon intensity and grid interconnection queues when assessing long-term site viability.
