Approximately one-third of Virginia is affected. extreme drought conditionsAccording to U.S. drought monitor and Gov. Abigail Spanberger urges people to conserve water.. So when local water authorities enforce water use restrictions, are there special provisions or rules for data centers that use hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to cool computer systems?
no. Across multiple regions, they are being treated like all other commercial, industrial and residential customers, state and local officials have made clear.
The Department of Environmental Quality is responsible for granting permits to public water authorities to withdraw groundwater. Once permits are granted, it is the responsibility of each authority to manage water use based on weather conditions and restrict customers if necessary.
“Each of the permittees that are withdrawing have a good understanding of what they are withdrawing,” said Weedon Crow, DEQ’s water supply office manager. “Resources have limits, and those limits are built in at certain times of the year to ensure they don’t run out.”
The Drought Assessment and Response Plan has provisions that allow DEQ officials to modify these permits in extreme circumstances. Chloe said the department is reviewing these procedures as the state faces its worst drought in decades.
Virginia hasn’t been this dry since 2002, when extreme conditions set new standards.
“The whole water program came from that drought. It was severe. It was like a huge swath running north to south through the center of the state,” Chloe said.
There are three main types drought stages These are declared by the DEQ and help local governments decide what water restrictions to implement.
Under drought monitoring, state officials are advising communities to minimize unnecessary water use and develop contingency plans.
In the drought warning category, officials are advising local leaders to initiate voluntary water restrictions and proactively identify leaks and needed repairs.
Once a drought emergency is declared, mandatory restrictions are introduced and water users can be fined if they fail to limit unnecessary water use, such as for irrigation, cleaning pavements, or refilling swimming pools.
Some areas, like Henrico County, haven’t had to venture into a category that is essential to their customers for 20 years.
Henrico Public Works Director Bentley Chan said of the county’s 11 data centers, only one is on the top 10 list for water users. Apartment buildings and hospitals are the biggest users of water there, but there are no special rules for their use during droughts.
“You’ll find that it’s not just residential customers[that limit water use]but also a lot of industrial users who use it for unrelated purposes, like irrigation or additional cleaning,” Chan said. “And we are asking everyone to join us in enforcing restrictions to protect the flow of the James River.”
Similar policies are used in Loudoun and Fairfax counties, which together have more than 200 data centers. Fairfax County is following guidance from the Washington Metropolitan Area Council of Governments that requires all customers to implement mandatory reductions.
Utility representatives say there are currently no online data centers in Norfolk that use water from the utility. He went on to say that because water comes from multiple sources, it is rare that restrictions have to be imposed.
““When such a time (for data centers) comes, the division will analyze capacity and needs and take all circumstances into account to ensure that we can properly serve all customers,” a representative said in a statement.
The West Virginia Water Authority provides water to 69,000 customers in the Roanoke area, but it also doesn’t have an online data center yet. A representative told the Mercury that the company is considering updating the policy once the data center is built. Google plans to begin drawing water from its facilities. in 2028 They would be allowed to use up to 8 million gallons of water per day.
Mandatory restrictions have begun in some regions We’re heading into the official start of summer, and we’ll be about 8 inches short of total rainfall for the wet year, which begins in October.
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