The Utah legislature has passed HB 076, the Data Center Water Policy Amendments, a bill recommended by the Legislative Water Development Commission. The legislation requires large data centers to demonstrate where they will obtain water.
This bill focuses on increasing transparency and accountability regarding the water demand of large data centers without authorizing new water rights or limiting existing water use.
According to the legislation details, HB 076 requires advance communication with water providers, detailed reporting of projected and actual water use, and the public disclosure of non-proprietary data. These requirements are intended to provide state agencies, local governments, and water providers with better information to evaluate if proposed data centers can be served without increasing unsustainable consumptive use.
By providing this information, the bill may help discourage poorly planned or speculative developments in areas facing water stress. It may also indirectly promote the use of more efficient cooling technologies, reuse, and conservation over time.
The impacts of HB 76 on air quality and the Great Salt Lake are described as indirect but potentially meaningful. Because large data centers may rely on evaporative cooling, they can be highly consumptive. If new water demands are met through diversions in the watershed, it could reduce downstream flows to the Great Salt Lake.
By requiring reports on discharge practices, reuse, and water sourcing, the bill improves the ability of the state to track cumulative impacts affecting lake levels. Maintaining inflows to the Great Salt Lake is necessary to limit exposed lakebed, which serves as a source of dust pollution that affects air quality along the Wasatch Front.
While HB 76 improves tracking, it does not include caps on water use or requirements for reuse. The ultimate benefits to air quality and the Great Salt Lake will depend on how the information generated by this bill is utilized in future decisions regarding conservation, water planning, and land use.
