Reducing Data Centers’ Water Consumption

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By Mary-Clare Bosco, Jonathan Gilmour, and Rebecca Kilberg

Despite the Great Salt Lake’s water level hitting a record low in 2022, the region is home to an increasing number of data centers. These data centers use water to cool down their servers during data processing. This project recommends that the Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner set water efficiency targets for the tech sector and collaborate with local partners to collect new data on the centers’ water usage. These actions could help protect the Great Salt Lake and set an example for sustainable tech growth within other drought-prone regions.

This project was completed as part of the 2024 Science and Technology Policy Fellowship, an Aspen Policy Academy program to teach science and technology experts how to impact policy.

Download the Executive Summary

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