The Facts About Data Centers and Water

Once referred to as server farms, data centers contain rows and rows of massive supercomputers that store information, power apps, provide storage redundancy, ensure access to essential communications, and enable artificial intelligence (AI) and related tools. As these supercomputers perform their many functions, they also generate heat and must be cooled to avoid disruption. Microsoft Corp. owns all of the data centers operating in West Des Moines, and these buildings employ evaporative cooling, a process that uses water to maintain optimum temperatures, especially during the unpredictable Iowa summer weather. This method of cooling with water, also used by several other businesses in West Des Moines on a smaller scale, is part of reason customers, local and national media, academics, government officials and others have questions about water usage.

How much water do data centers use?

Microsoft data centers in West Des Moines use 2% to 7% of the total water pumped through the WDMWW system each month. The six-year average for Microsoft water usage (2021-2025) is 2.1% of the total amount of water consumed in West Des Moines. It is important to note that WDMWW became part of Central Iowa Water Works, a regional system serving 12 members and 600,000 people in the metro. Microsoft data centers use proportionately less of the regional system, whereas lawn-watering remains at 30% to 40% during peaks.

What role did data centers play in the irrigation ban of 2025 and the Stage 2 Alert in May 2026 to voluntarily reduce lawn watering by 50%?

The lawn watering ban had nothing to do with data center water usage. The watering ban was instituted to address a water quality problem stemming from excessively high nitrate concentrations in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers as a result of agricultural runoff. CIWW’s decision to issue a Stage 2 Alert is also not related to data center water use. The request for a 50-percent reduction in watering is due entirely to unprecedentedly high nitrate concentrations in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers for nearly all of 2026.

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