Water Policy
California bill would force data centers to prove water plans
Before a new or expanded project moves ahead, applicants would have to spell out how they would handle drought, reuse and cooling changes, plus any water-system upgrades.
AB 2469 would treat data centers as a distinct water user and keep most projects out of critically overdrafted groundwater basins. Recorded votes show the measure has already passed one chamber.
- Developers would need a water scarcity plan, supply assessment and use assessment.
- Most projects could not go in critically overdrafted groundwater basins.
- Applicants would have to pay for needed water infrastructure upgrades.
- Recorded votes show the bill cleared a floor vote.
- Data centers can be thirsty neighbors, and California could start making developers prove a project’s water plan before local officials sign off
Data centers can be thirsty neighbors, and California could start making developers prove a project’s water plan before local officials sign off. Assemblymember Diane Papan’s AB 2469 would block certain permits for new data-center construction, or for expansions that increase maximum peak use, unless the applicant submits a water scarcity plan, a water supply assessment and a water use assessment.
Recorded votes show the bill cleared a floor vote.
A permit that has to answer for the water
The point is not just to collect paperwork. The proposal would require the project to spell out how it would hold up under 25-, 50- and 100-year drought scenarios, including conservation, reuse and cooling changes, so cities, counties and city and county governments can see the strain before they approve anything.
That makes the water question part of the permit itself, not an afterthought. The bill would also ask state water officials to create a separate water-use classification for large consumptive-use facilities, including data centers, so they are treated as their own kind of demand instead of being folded into ordinary commercial or industrial use.
Where the taps are already running low
AB 2469 draws its sharpest line around groundwater. It would generally keep construction or expansion out of a groundwater basin the Department of Water Resources has designated as critically overdrafted, unless an exception applies. In plain terms, if a basin is already running too dry, that can stop the project before it starts.
The bill also puts the cost burden on the developer. If a project needs new water conveyance, treatment, storage or distribution work, the applicant would have to assume the full cost. For communities already worried about shrinking supplies, that shifts more of the risk onto the people asking to build the facility in the first place.