Virginia Report Finds Groundwater Running Dry for New Data Centers
No locations east of I-95 can support major new groundwater withdrawals under current Virginia permitting standards, officials say.
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A Virginia study concludes that no location in the US Coastal Plain east of Interstate 95 can support major new groundwater withdrawals under the state's permitting standards. The finding matters because this region contains the world's largest concentration of data centers, which are water-intensive facilities that have traditionally supplemented municipal water supplies with on-site groundwater wells. The report tested whether a hypothetical industrial facility withdrawing three million gallons of groundwater per day could qualify for a permit and found that maximum sustainable withdrawals in areas near the Interstate 95 corridor were below 30,000 gallons per day, forcing data center operators to rely more heavily on municipal water systems. Groundwater levels peaked around 2021 and are now expected to decline within five to 10 years under current conditions, with population growth and rising chloride concentrations adding further pressure to the region's constrained water resources.
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