BOTETOURT CO., Va. – As Google moves forward with plans for a major data center campus in Botetourt County, some environmental advocates are urging Virginia to rethink how the facilities operate — and warning that growing water demands could strain local resources.
The debate centers on water use, energy consumption and whether newer cooling technologies could reduce the industry’s footprint.
Virginia is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers. As more projects move into communities outside Northern Virginia, questions about their environmental impact are following close behind.
Freeda Cathcart, who serves on the Blue Ridge Soil and Water Conservation District Board, says the conversation should focus on long-term sustainability.
“We’re seeing more frequent droughts, more intense droughts, we’re calling flash droughts,” Cathcart said. “And to take 2 to 8 million gallons of water from our reservoir would be irresponsible in 2026.”
Cathcart recently co-authored a report examining data centers across Virginia. She says growing electricity demand, drought conditions and increasing pressure on water supplies should push companies toward newer cooling technologies.
In her report, Cathcart recommends three alternatives to traditional water cooling:
- Closed-loop cooling systems, which recirculate the same water instead of continuously drawing new water
- Water recycling, which treats and reuses water already on site
- Waste heat recovery, which captures heat from servers and redirects it for use in nearby homes and businesses
Cathcart says she hopes to work directly with Google on a design change.
“I’m really hoping to work with Google to have them change their plans to a closed-loop water system that won’t drain our water,” she said.
Google says the facility is expected to use water cooling, but company officials say the final design remains under development. Clay Allsop, Google’s regional public affairs manager, says the company works to minimize its impact on host communities.
“We have our own rigorous process that we use, and they have theirs, and we put them together and we come up with a plan that will have the lowest impact on the community,” Allsop said. “We do, across our portfolio, have a commitment to replenish 120% of the water that we use.”
Botetourt County Administrator Gary Larrowe argues the data center will bring significant economic benefits to the region.
“Google will be investing in this community like no one’s business,” Larrowe said. “I think that this will end up being one of the larger impacts to Botetourt County ever.”
A 2020-2024 report from Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found that data centers currently provide billions of dollars in economic activity and support thousands of jobs statewide. The report also found current water use is sustainable but warned that future growth will require careful planning as electricity demand continues to rise.
For Cathcart, the central question is whether the industry will adapt before resources are strained.
“There’s also hope because there is new technology being developed and utilized that can make it where you can have the data that we need access to and be able to process and not hurt the environment or economy at the same time,” she said.
Cathcart and other activists are encouraging Virginians to contact state lawmakers in support of ending tax incentives for what they describe as “dirty” or outdated data centers. Her advocacy group, Indivisible Virginia, created an online portal that allows residents to send emails to elected officials.