On Monday, SpaceX revised its IPO to highlight the pressing issue of water scarcity in data center development. The concern isn’t just theoretical; a recent Gallup poll found that seven out of ten Americans oppose data center expansion due to water worries.

Data centers primarily use water for cooling, with techniques like evaporative cooling consuming vast amounts—Google’s Council Bluffs facility drank more than 1 billion gallons in one year. This staggering figure puts data centers on par with other high-water industries like agriculture and oil and gas, raising alarms in already parched regions.

According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, if current trends continue, hyperscale data centers could sip down a whopping 33 billion gallons by 2030. But this isn’t just about water; it’s about energy efficiency too. Innovative cooling systems can reduce power usage and emissions, but they come with their own environmental costs.

“Water is a highly local, highly regional issue,” says Shaolei Ren from UC Riverside. “It's a limited resource that we must manage very carefully.” Tech firms are scrambling to reassure the public that they’re tackling water scarcity head-on, but it’s clear that solutions need to be both effective and sustainable.