Data centers are not to blame for central Iowa water crisis
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Data centers are not to blame for the metro's first-ever lawn watering ban, West Des Moines Water Works general manager Christina Murphy tells Axios.
Why it matters: Grasping where the pressure genuinely lies helps formulate innovative conservation policies and guarantees the region can develop without compromising essential services.
Catch up quick: Near-record-high levels of nitrates in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers in recent weeks have nearly maxed Central Iowa Water Works' (CIWW) capacity to treat drinking water and keep up with customer demand.
- The utility imposed a lawn watering ban starting last Thursday after weeks of little success in persuading users to voluntarily reduce their water use.
- For now, several cities have also closed or reduced hours at splash facilities, with Des Moines lowering pool admission to $2 or less to help residents maintain access to water activities.
The big picture: Concerns about the energy and water consumption of data centers were raised long before the ongoing lawn watering ban began.
Zoom in: WDM operates five Microsoft data centers that use up to 11.5 million gallons of water each month for cooling.
- In 2023, officials told Microsoft that the city would accept additional data centers only if it could adopt technology capable of significantly reducing peak water use.
- The company's sixth WDM data center is now under construction after an upgrade alleviated the city's concerns.
- New data center designs now use zero-water technology, the company said in a statement to Axios.
What they're saying: Data centers use 2%-7% of the city's water and Central Iowa would have faced water treatment capacity issues even if they weren't a factor, Murphy said.
- Daily use in WDM dropped by about 40% since the lawn watering ban began, from 12.6 million on Wednesday to around 7.8 million gallons Sunday, she said.
- Overall demand across the CIWW network is down by about 33%, Melissa Walker, a communications adviser for the utility, tells Axios.
The intrigue: UnityPoint Des Moines on Friday began giving bottled water to people who are pregnant or nursing and to children under 1 as part of a proactive measure.
- The hospital system returned to using city water on Monday, spokesperson Mark Tauscheck tells Axios.
What we're watching: Whether billions of dollars in proposed data center projects in Des Moines and Norwalk will include water restrictions or use zero-water technology.
- DSM city manager Scott Sanders tells Axios that an evaluation of how the metro's water situation reached capacity will be underway in the coming weeks and could influence future planning.
What's next: The duration of the lawn-watering ban is dependent on nitrate levels, which remain high.