California Will Soon Have More Than 300 Data Centers. Where Will They Get Their Water?
Key takeaways
- April 29, 2026 Share This Article Republish Margie Padilla is worried that a proposed data center near her home in Imperial, Calif., will increase power and water costs for her family.
- For patrons of the deli on West Aten Road, it was the white “Not In My Backyard” signs jutting out of lawns.
- For local irrigation district workers, it was something called an “electric service application.”
Why this matters: environmental and climate reporting with long-term consequences.
April 29, 2026 Share This Article Republish Margie Padilla is worried that a proposed data center near her home in Imperial, Calif., will increase power and water costs for her family. Credit: Steven Rodas/Inside Climate News Related Texas Data Center Developers Play Offense on Water, Claiming Huge Cuts in Usage Two Wildly Different Data Centers Reveal a ‘Fork in the Road’ on How to Meet Electricity Demand A New Era of Data Center Development Is Like a Second Industrial Revolution Share This Article Republish Most Popular Nearly One-Fifth of Americans Are Consuming Water With High Levels of Nitrates A Bill to Gut Endangered Species Protections Faced a Major Setback This Week The Next El Niño Could Lock Earth Into a Hotter Climate IMPERIAL, Calif.—The new data center proposed for a quiet city about 115 miles east of San Diego came across people’s radars in different ways.
For patrons of the deli on West Aten Road, it was the white “Not In My Backyard” signs jutting out of lawns.
For local irrigation district workers, it was something called an “electric service application.”