California will soon have more than 300 data centers. Where will they get their water?

California's data center boom faces a water crisis. The state expects 24 new facilities to open soon, joining over 300 already operating. A single proposed data center in the Imperial Valley would consume 750,000 gallons of water daily, according to reporting from Grist.

Data centers require massive amounts of water for cooling systems. With hundreds more on the horizon, experts and state officials warn that meeting these demands will strain an already stressed water system.

California faces persistent drought conditions and competition for water from agriculture, cities, and ecosystems. The Imperial Valley proposal alone would consume as much water as a town of thousands. Scaling this across two dozen additional facilities reveals the scale of the challenge ahead.

Officials have not announced how they will secure water supplies for this expansion. The tension between data infrastructure growth and water availability will define California's ability to support both tech industry demands and existing water users across the state.