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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Short answer: no evidence shows AI data centers are draining the Great Lakes or causing the lakes’ recent declines. But residents’ anger is not baseless. Individual campuses can create significant local demand for municipal water, groundwater, wastewater capacity and electricity—and households may ultimately pay for infrastructure upgrades or higher utility costs.
The critical distinction is between water withdrawn, water consumed, water returned to the system and water used indirectly to generate electricity. Without those details, a dramatic gallon figure can mislead.
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The real issue is local water pressure, not an emptying Great Lakes
Great Lakes water levels have fallen roughly two to four feet from unusually high levels reached after 2019 and 2020, according to reporting by The Guardian. The documented explanations include natural variation, drought, warmer water, evaporation and reduced ice cover—not data-center withdrawals.
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A data center’s water demand is tiny compared with the total volume of the lakes. That does not make the local effects irrelevant. A campus can become one of a town’s largest water customers, increase peak demand, require new pipes or treatment capacity, draw down a stressed aquifer, or add wastewater and thermal-discharge concerns without measurably lowering Lake Michigan or Lake Erie.
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So the defensible conclusion is narrower than the slogan: AI data centers are exposing a local water-and-power accountability problem, not causing a basin-wide Great Lakes water-level crisis.
Where the controversy is unfolding
Perkins Township, Ohio
Aligned Data Centers began construction on its NEO-01 project in May 2024. The project was described as four buildings totaling about 200,000 square feet on a brownfield site near farmland. Local farmer Tom Hermes raised concerns that connecting the facility to city water could reduce pressure in the local system.
Aligned reportedly described the cooling design as closed-loop and air-cooled, which could reduce direct water use. However, the company did not provide The Guardian with expected water-use and source details. “Closed-loop” also does not automatically mean zero water: systems can require initial filling, maintenance water, makeup water or auxiliary cooling.
The property had a prior contamination issue involving unauthorized discharges into state waters during remediation. That is a separate environmental matter and should not be presented as evidence that the data center itself polluted Lake Erie.
Mount Pleasant and Racine, Wisconsin
Microsoft is developing a major AI data center in Mount Pleasant. The reported maximum expected use was 8.4 million gallons of Racine municipal water per year. The figure was initially reported incorrectly as 8.4 billion gallons and later corrected. Any comparison should use the corrected million-gallon figure.
Racine’s supply comes from Lake Michigan, but the project figure describes expected municipal-water use—not a measured, direct withdrawal from the lake by the facility.
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Port Washington, Wisconsin
Port Washington illustrates why the water accounting is complicated. A Clean Wisconsin analysis modeled the possible indirect water demand associated with electricity for a proposed data-center development.
At full buildout, the report’s modeled indirect-withdrawal scenarios ranged from approximately 54.6 million gallons per day to 3.725 billion gallons per day, depending on the generation fuel and power-plant cooling technology. Its modeled consumption scenarios ranged from approximately 14.2 million to 56.4 million gallons per day.
Those are scenarios, not observed withdrawals from an operating facility. The range is so large because a gas plant using cooling towers and a nuclear plant using once-through cooling have very different water profiles. The actual figure would depend on the project’s electricity source, generation mix, cooling technology and operating scale.
Hobart, Indiana
Amazon Web Services has been reported as planning a data center roughly two miles from Lake Michigan’s shoreline. Its exact operating status, water source, permits, cooling design and expected demand must be established before calling it an operating facility or a confirmed water threat. It is evidence of regional expansion—not evidence of Great Lakes depletion.
Saline Township, Michigan
A proposed facility backed by OpenAI and Oracle became the focus of local opposition. The Guardian reported that a representative company successfully sued the local authority, allowing the project to proceed despite community resistance.
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Four water numbers that must not be confused
| Term | What it means | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal | Water taken from a lake, river, aquifer or municipal system. | Shows pressure placed on a source or utility, but not necessarily how much is permanently lost. |
| Return flow | Water discharged back through a wastewater system or into the environment. | Returned water may not immediately return to the same source, and it may require treatment. |
| Consumption | Water not promptly returned, often because it evaporates or is incorporated into another process. | Usually the more relevant measure for permanent local depletion. |
| Indirect use | Water used by power plants generating the facility’s electricity. | A low-water onsite design may still be linked to substantial off-site water use. |
A facility can withdraw a large volume and consume much less if most water is returned. The reverse can also be locally important: a smaller withdrawal may matter greatly if it comes from a vulnerable aquifer or a municipal system operating near capacity.
How much water does an AI data center use?
There is no universal number. Demand depends on the facility’s IT load, climate, operating temperature, cooling system, use of potable or reclaimed water, electricity source and whether the number covers a first phase or full buildout.
The Guardian cited Purdue University research estimating average data-center water use at about 300,000 gallons per day. That is an average across a broad category, not a reliable estimate for every AI campus. A proposed hyperscale facility, a smaller conventional data center and an air-cooled campus should not be treated as interchangeable.
The Department of Energy recommends using water-use effectiveness, or WUE, when comparing facilities. DOE defines WUE as annual site water use divided by annual IT-equipment energy use, generally expressed in liters per kilowatt-hour. WUE is more informative than a raw gallon figure because it connects water use to the computing work being performed.
Even WUE is not enough by itself. A facility with a good onsite WUE can still create indirect water demand through its electricity supply. Readers should ask for both the site figure and the assumptions behind off-site power generation.
Why cooling design changes the answer
- Evaporative cooling and cooling towers: Can reduce electricity use in some conditions but consume water through evaporation and require water treatment.
- Air cooling: Can reduce direct water consumption, although it may involve electricity and equipment trade-offs.
- Closed-loop systems: Reuse circulating fluid but may still require initial filling, makeup water and auxiliary cooling.
- Hybrid systems: Switch between air and water-based cooling depending on weather and operating conditions.
- Reclaimed-water systems: Can reduce demand for potable water, but require a reliable reclaimed supply and appropriate treatment infrastructure.
The phrase “waterless data center” deserves scrutiny. It may mean no routine potable-water cooling, not literally no water under every operating condition.
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The hidden water footprint is often the power supply
Servers require electricity, and power plants may use cooling towers, once-through cooling, ponds or other systems. Their withdrawal and consumption profiles differ substantially.
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That is why the Port Washington analysis produced such a wide range. Its largest figures are not measurements of water flowing into the data center. They are modeled power-sector scenarios based on assumptions about generation and cooling. A report should attribute those estimates and label them clearly rather than present them as confirmed project demand.
For households, the practical issue is not only “How many gallons will the building use?” It is also: Will the project require a new treatment plant, water main, transmission line or power-generation capacity—and who will finance it?
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the Great Lakes Compact does—and does not—do
The Great Lakes Compact is a 2005 agreement among the eight Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces. It generally governs the use of Great Lakes basin water within the regional basin, but it does not automatically prohibit every data-center project.
For a specific facility, residents need to determine:
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- Whether the site is inside the Great Lakes basin.
- Whether water comes from a municipal supplier, groundwater, a river, a lake or reclaimed sources.
- How much water is withdrawn and how much is consumed.
- Whether wastewater is returned and under what permit.
- Which city, utility and state agencies approve the supply and discharge.
- Whether the project triggers separate state-level reporting or permitting requirements.
A municipal customer drawing treated water from a city utility may not appear in the same records as a direct industrial lake withdrawal. That makes utility agreements, permits and meter data essential.
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Why this can affect household finances
The possible personal-finance consequences are indirect but real. A large customer may help a utility spread fixed costs across a broader customer base, but it may also require expensive upgrades, create peak-demand problems or receive discounted rates and tax incentives.
Residents should ask for:
- the project’s guaranteed water volume and peak daily demand;
- the price paid per gallon and any long-term supply commitments;
- who pays for water mains, treatment capacity and wastewater upgrades;
- electricity and transmission upgrades attributable to the campus;
- tax exemptions, payments in lieu of taxes and other incentives;
- the number of temporary construction jobs versus permanent jobs; and
- the utility’s plan if the campus expands, shuts down or exceeds projections.
The Ohio project was reported as expected to employ about 18 people after construction. That does not settle whether the project is worthwhile, but it shows why residents should demand quantified permanent employment and public-revenue claims rather than accepting generic promises of “jobs.”
A disclosure standard every proposed facility should meet
Before approval, a developer and its utility should publish a single water-and-power profile covering:
- Annual and peak daily withdrawals.
- Annual and peak daily consumption.
- WUE and the cooling technology.
- Water source, quality and treatment requirements.
- Expected wastewater volume, temperature and discharge destination.
- Whether figures cover one building, the first phase or full buildout.
- Electricity source and the assumptions used to estimate indirect water use.
- Drought, heat-wave and emergency operating plans.
- Water-reuse commitments and reclaimed-water availability.
- Public infrastructure costs and the party responsible for paying them.
- Post-operation meter data reported at regular intervals.
For journalists and residents, the most useful records are municipal water-service agreements, state withdrawal permits, wastewater permits, environmental filings, utility commission documents, tax-incentive agreements and actual metered data from operating facilities. The U.S. Geological Survey’s water-use resources provide regional context, but national datasets generally will not identify the exact demand of an individual data center.
What the evidence supports
Claims that AI campuses are “sucking up the Great Lakes” overstate the evidence. The available material does not establish that data centers caused the lakes’ recent decline, and it does not justify treating every proposed campus as equally water-intensive.
At the same time, dismissing residents’ concerns because the lakes are enormous would also be a mistake. Local water systems, aquifers, wastewater plants, electric grids and household utility budgets are much smaller than the Great Lakes. The relevant question is therefore not whether a campus can empty a lake. It is whether a specific project’s full water-and-power footprint is disclosed, permitted, monitored and fairly paid for.
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