Planned data centers are moving into California’s Central and Imperial Valleys despite a lack of public data on how much water they will draw.. The Next10 and Santa Clara University study warns that patchwork regulations let operators keep water‑use figures hidden,raising alarms for already stressed communities.

Next10 report flags water use in Central Valley and Imperial Valley

The joint study identifies the Central Valley and Imperial Valley as hotspots where new data‑center projects could tap overtapped groundwater and strained surface supplies. Researchers say the lack of mandatory reporting creates a “significant information gap” for local water managers, according to the report.

Data Center Coalition resists granular water‑use reporting bill

Khara Boender, director of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, emailed that the industry is “committed to being a good neighbor” and opposes legislation that would require detailed water‑use disclosures. Boender claims data centers collectively “used significantly less water than other essential industries in 2025,” but the coalition has not provided supporting data, as noted by the report.

California’s south Bay and Los Angeles host the bulk of existing facilities

Current data‑center clusters are concentrated in the south San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, with smaller footprints in Sacramento and San Diego. This geographic pattern means new projects in the valleys would extend the industry’s reach into regions with far fewer existing water‑intensive operations.

Unverified claim that data centers use less water than agriculture

Stewart‑Frey, the environmental scientist behind the study, says the industry’s water footprint is “at the brink of becoming a major issue” in California. yet the coalition’s assertion that data centers use less water than agriculture,power, food‑beverage, or semiconductor sectors remains unsubstantiated,highlighting a key data gap.

How much water are data centers actually consuming?

The report notes that state, federal and local policies allow operators to sidestep public disclosure, leaving communities without clear figures. without mandatory reporting, it is impossible to verify whether the industry’s water use is truly lower than that of other sectors.