Virginia Study Warns of Shrinking Groundwater as Data Centers Grow

Virginia has released a major report warning that underground water supplies in the eastern part of the state are shrinking. The study looked at how growing industries — especially data centers — could affect the water stored beneath the ground. Scientists who wrote the report say the state needs stronger rules to protect this water before it runs too low. Virginia is home to more data centers than anywhere else in the world, making this a very important issue for the state.

Data centers are large buildings filled with computers that store and process information from the internet. They need a lot of water to keep their computer servers cool. Because Virginia has so many of them — 371 are already running and 438 more are planned — there are growing worries about how much water they use. Similar concerns have come up in states like Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina.

The report focused on groundwater, which is water that is stored naturally underground in areas called aquifers. In eastern Virginia, this groundwater has been used for a long time by local communities for drinking water, farming, and industry. Scientists found that the amount of water in the main aquifer in the region is likely to keep dropping. They said this is due to population growth and heavy industrial use.

The report had been finished for months but was not released to the public. Many groups and lawmakers were frustrated by this delay. The Associated Press asked for the report using an open records request, but the state's Department of Environmental Quality refused to hand it over. After the AP said it would report on the refusal, the governor's office finally released the report late on a Thursday night.

Governor Abigail Spanberger's office said the delay happened because of a backlog of unfinished work from the previous governor. A spokesperson for Spanberger said the report is 'the most comprehensive analysis of groundwater resources conducted in Virginia history.' He added that the governor wants to work with lawmakers to make groundwater rules stronger and protect the water supply for future generations.

State Senator Richard Stuart has been raising concerns about this issue for at least 15 years. He represents an area along Virginia's coast and helped pass the law that required this study to be done. He said local governments in his area are already being told to find new water sources because groundwater levels are too low. He is especially worried about people having enough clean drinking water and about the seafood industry, which also depends on clean water.

The report found that water levels had improved about 15 years ago when a large paper mill closed. Without that factory pulling water out of the ground, levels rose for a while. But recently, that improvement stopped, and scientists now expect the aquifer to start declining again. They concluded that there is probably not enough groundwater to support any major new industrial user in the region.

Scientists who wrote the report made several recommendations for lawmakers and regulators. They said the state should give regulators more power to deny permits for large water use. They also recommended that businesses looking to use a lot of groundwater first check if they can use surface water or recycled water instead. Better planning and more funding for water management were also suggested.

The report also looked at whether a new data center could even get permission to use groundwater in eastern Virginia. Researchers found that, under current conditions, it would be very unlikely. Most existing data centers in the area already get their water from public water systems that use surface water, not groundwater. But the report noted that full public information about how much groundwater data centers use is still not available.

Jay Ford, a policy manager at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said the report's findings were alarming. Senator Stuart said the report's summary findings were worrying, but that they would help lawmakers make hard decisions going forward. He said many people are focused on economic growth, but his biggest concern is making sure citizens have clean drinking water.