Georgia data center drained millions of gallons undetected, exposing regulatory gaps
Source: Ars Technica
A Georgia facility consumed 30 million gallons of water over months before detection, revealing how permitting agencies lack real-time monitoring infrastructure for industrial water use. This gap will repeat across dozens of states racing to attract data center investment. As AI workloads and cloud computing demand explode, water-intensive cooling systems are being deployed in water-stressed regions with pre-digital oversight mechanisms. States competing for economic development are systematically under-resourced to manage the externalities of the facilities they're incentivizing.