Data centers are drinking our Potomac River region resources up. Our team is fighting for transparency in Virginia
/As it stands, we don’t know how much water each data center is using in Virginia. Let’s change that
A data center under construction in Gainesville, VA. Photo by Hugh Kenny/PEC
In December 2025, the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin released a report showing that the Potomac River region’s water supply could fail to meet our area’s needs by 2030, in the event of an extreme drought.
For many, 2030 feels far away, but it is less than 4 years away, and our region is experiencing droughts a lot. In 2023, our region experienced the worst drought in over a decade, causing wildfires and low water levels that harmed fish survival and prompted alerts from water utilities. Fast-forward two years later, and we’re still combating arid conditions. In May 2025, 87% of the Potomac River watershed was in active drought, including 30% in severe drought.
It's not surprising, but data centers are making it worse, and there's a lack of transparency about how much water they’re using. That puts environmental and water advocates at a disadvantage because we’re not able to find all of the data we need
We need to change that
Data centers in Virginia
That’s why Potomac Conservancy pushed for SB553, a bill that would have mandated data centers to report on their water usage to the State Water Control Board. Even though the house adjusted the language to make it ineffective, it was critical to our clean and healthy water work because we can’t advocate for Potomac River region-friendly infrastructure if companies are adamantly trying to hide it.
As communities that rely on it, we deserve and demand to know so we can have the most accurate information to fight data center sprawl across Virginia.
Why is this important in the commonwealth?
Northern Virginia, specifically, makes up 14% of the world’s current data center capacity; the next biggest isn’t even close at 6% in China. Loudoun County alone has the highest concentration of data centers in the world, with over 200 data centers built just in the county and over 100 in the development pipeline.
With all of these data centers, built and in the process, we need to stand up for our natural resources that they’re drinking up. We all deserve to have a healthy and thriving environment, and that can’t be possible with the pace at which data centers are being put up in our region.
It’s our river. It’s our responsibility.
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