Flows of the Future: A Smarter Path Forward for Data Centers, Water, and Communities

This blog was created after a curated dialogue hosted at the Reservoir Center for Water Solutions in June 2026. The conversation was focused on water usage in data centers and therefore represents what was top of mind in the industry at that time. We recognize that this is an ever-evolving topic, and that water usage is only a small part of this conversation.

Data center construction and AI power demand are growing at historic and exponential rates. Artificial intelligence and cloud computing demand have skyrocketed, and data centers have emerged as one of the most closely watched and widely debated pieces of modern infrastructure. Today, more than 1,500 new data centers are in various stages of development across the U.S., and construction shows no signs of slowing down. But as the debate intensifies, a critical question is emerging: what happens when development is approached transparently, collaboratively, and with shared goals in mind?

The Reservoir Center for Water Solutions recently convened environmental nonprofit leaders, engineers, hyperscalers, and water utilities to examine the opportunities and challenges associated with the data center boom. While water consumption was a central point, the conversation quickly expanded to encompass water stewardship, governance, long-term planning, community benefits, and how thoughtful development can actively strengthen local water systems. We dive into our full findings below.

A Growth Wave Unlike Anything We’ve Seen Before
The extraordinary scale and pace of data center development represent one of the most significant periods of industrial expansion in generations. For many communities, this type of development is entirely new territory, bringing with it unfamiliar processes, unknowns, and legitimate questions about local impacts. Developers who take local concerns seriously, and engage with them openly, are far better positioned to build the community trust that sustained projects require. For community members, understanding each project’s distinct effects on the local environment and economy is essential to making informed decisions.

Turning Development Into Opportunity
Data center development doesn’t have to be viewed through a lens of risk alone. Municipalities that take stock of their existing infrastructure needs, whether related to water, energy, or economic development, are better positioned to shape growth on their own terms. These early conversations lay the groundwork for smarter, more responsive planning. Community Benefit Agreements and similar frameworks are powerful tools for keeping residents central to the process, and for making sure development translates into real, measurable gains for the people who live there.

The Information Gap Driving Community Concern
At the heart of many community concerns about data centers is a simple problem: a lack of clear, accessible information. Greater transparency is one of the most effective tools available to address this, and standardizing water use reporting across data centers and other water-intensive industries would improve public understanding and enable meaningful comparisons. But access to better data is only part of the equation.

Planning for Decades, Not Just Today
The transparency challenge runs deeper than data center reporting alone. Across much of the United States, comprehensive regional water use data simply doesn’t exist, leaving communities without a clear picture of current water use and future demands across residential, agricultural, and industrial sectors. Planning for water sustainability requires looking out five-ten years, as well as decades ahead, accounting for population growth, land use changes, economic development, and the effects of climate change. Without that foundation, even the best intentions can fall short.

The Right Experts at the Right Time
Understanding what that data means for a community’s long-term future is where expert voices become indispensable. Water utility professionals, watershed planners, and environmental agencies carry deep technical knowledge about long-term water availability, infrastructure capacity, and environmental risk. When these voices are part of the conversation from the start, communities are better equipped to make informed decisions and uncover opportunities to build more resilient water systems in the process.

In all, better outcomes are founded in holistic and proactive approaches. Data center growth can modernize infrastructure, improve equity, and enhance water stewardship, but only if developers, communities, utilities, and other stakeholders prioritize transparency and align projects with community priorities from the outset. The communities already doing this are proving that it works. The question now is how many more will follow their lead.

Thank you to the professionals from the following organizations who shared their expertise and knowledge: Moonshot Missions, The Water Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Jacobs, Nature Forward, Amazon Web Services, National Association of Water Companies, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Loudoun Water, WSSC Water, HDR, Google, Young, Gifted & Green, Maryland Department of the Environment, Urban Land Institute, Water Environment Federation, DC Water, Prince William Water, National Parks Conservation Association, The Water Research Foundation, WaterReuse Association, Xylem, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, US Water Alliance.