AI = A WAR ON WATER
For a region that has spent plenty of time fighting for its water, the Eastern Sierra has so far managed to avoid the West’s latest water war against Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers.
Still, that battle is happening just a stone’s throw away.
AI data centers are warehouse-scaled facilities that house the servers, networking equipment, cooling systems and electrical infrastructure needed to power artificial intelligence and cloud-computing services. They are both power- and water-intensive, with large facilities using millions of gallons of water per day.
And though no major data centers have been proposed in Inyo or Mono counties, the industry’s rapid expansion appears to be sandwiching the region, with massive projects operating, under construction or proposed both to the North and to the South.
To the North
The Reno-Tahoe region has become one of the fastest-growing data center hubs in the country, thanks to relatively cheap power, tax incentives and proximity to Silicon Valley.
There are 29 data centers in and around Reno, according to Data Center Map, an online resource that tracks the industry.
As the industry has grown, so too has the debate over how it should be regulated.
For the six centers within Reno‘s city limits, some facilities were built before conditional-use permits were required.
More recent projects underwent Planning Commission review, and one existing facility was later required to obtain a conditional-use permit after the city updated its business code, according to the Reno Gazette Journal.
In May, the Reno City Council paused new data center applications for 30 days while officials considered regulatory options. The council later voted to extend a temporary moratorium through August 2027, according to the Nevada Independent.
The decision followed more than five hours of public comment largely over the industry’s impacts on water, energy infrastructure and quality of life.
Among the proposals submitted to the city was a seven-page policy framework from the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter recommending dedicated zoning districts, mandatory special permits, minimum setbacks from homes and schools, and extensive studies on water use, energy demand, noise and economic impacts before projects are approved.
Outside of Reno, the industry’s rapid growth is beginning to test Northern Nevada’s infrastructure.
In Storey County, southeast of Reno, data center development at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center has begun to outpace available electrical capacity. One developer is seeking state approval to operate a temporary natural gas power plant while awaiting service from NV Energy, according to Carson Now.
The industrial center has become one of the region’s largest concentrations of data centers and technology infrastructure, attracting investment from companies including Google and Microsoft. New facilities continue to be proposed even as questions emerge about power supply, transmission capacity and long-term infrastructure needs.
“Nevada is not a sacrifice zone for the AI boom,” said Olivia Tanager, executive director of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter. “Our communities deserve affordable energy, a stable climate, responsible water management, and a transparent decision-making process — not decades of new fossil fuel infrastructure built to accommodate unchecked data center growth.”
Elsewhere, local governments are actively positioning themselves for future growth. In Lyon County, commissioners recently moved to create a new power district to serve the 20,000-acre Northern Nevada Industrial Center in Silver Springs, a development expected to accommodate data centers, advanced manufacturing facilities and logistics hubs. The district would allow the county to secure power more quickly than existing utilities can provide.
The county is also home to Copia Power‘s proposed Monarch Data Center Campus near Yerington, a 505-acre project that could eventually include multiple data centers, battery storage facilities, substations and backup natural gas generation. The proposal has drawn opposition from residents concerned about water use and impacts to the community‘s rural character.
For many local governments, the promise of data centers is economic development. For opponents, the question is whether the jobs and tax revenue justify the long-term demands on water, energy and public infrastructure.
To the South
A proposed data center near Inyokern is similarly drawing scrutiny from residents and water managers in the Indian Wells Valley.
Developer R&L Capital has proposed a 238,000-square-foot facility on roughly 50 acres near the junction of U.S. Highway 395 and State Route 178.
The project would include enough backup generation capacity to produce up to 99 megawatts of electricity during outages, supported by 40 diesel-fired generators and enough on-site fuel storage to operate at full capacity for up to 72 hours, according to the California Energy Commission.
It would also draw an estimated 12 to 16 million gallons of water annually from the already stressed Indian Wells Valley groundwater basin, which supplies most of the water used in Ridgecrest and Inyokern and has long experienced declining groundwater levels.
The facility would use water primarily for cooling systems, including hybrid cooling towers and water-cooled chillers.
The generators would be reserved for emergency use and would not supply power to the grid. However, the facility would maintain enough on-site fuel storage to operate at full capacity for up to 72 hours if utility power were interrupted.
Residents have urged a full environmental review and detailed analysis of the project‘s water demands, backup power systems and long-term impacts on the basin before it moves forward, according to a report by KGET, the NBC affiliate in the Bakersfield and Kern County region.
“We‘re trying to do our due diligence,“ said Jim Worth, an attorney for the Indian Wells Valley Water District, during a recent board meeting.
In a broader debate about AI data centers, critics also worry that the massive electricity development could eventually increase costs for other utility customers.
Consumer Reports reported this year that utilities across the country are spending billions on new transmission lines and power infrastructure to accommodate data center growth, prompting concerns that some of those costs could ultimately be passed on to ratepayers.
As of April, the United States had more than 3,000 operational data centers, and according to the Pew Research Center, many of the facilities planned in the coming years will be located in rural areas.
The Eastern Sierra has so far avoided the AI data center boom, but it is increasingly surrounded by it.
