Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
As data center projects continue to pop up across West Virginia, water usage remains one of the largest concerns.
Environmental advocates have been raising those concerns and asking for developers to include the communities in the process.
"It's not a question of can these facilities impact local water resources. The question is, how do we manage that?” West Virginia Rivers Coalition Senior Scientist Nathaniel Hitt said. “And are we going to include the local communities who know best?"
Ten data center facilities have already been proposed in West Virginia.
"We've seen this story before so many times companies come here and they extract resources, and then when the markets change or the resources are gone, so are the companies,” Hitt said.
This all comes after the legislature passed House Bill 2014, which incentives data centers to come to the Mountain State by allowing them to produce their own power using microgrids.
Notably, it also removes local and county zoning jurisdiction over the campuses. This has raised concerns for noise pollution and water usage.
"The question isn't should we have AI and cloud computing?” Hitt said. “The question is will local communities who are impacted by these have a seat at the table and have a voice in the process?”
The legislation was passed and promoted as key to economic development.
"Some of them – the large hyper-scale data centers – can consume up to 5 million gallons of water a day, but that can vary from data center to data center,” Hitt said. “So all those impacts are uncertain. And here's the key point, that local communities are being left out. We need basic transparency from data center developers and state government so that we can protect our communities and build safe water systems."
Hitt said local communities are not being involved in the conversations of data centers that are being built in their backyards, leaving the question of how many local resources will be used?
"The Western Union Department of Commerce collects information about the peak water demand and the source of that water as part of their site certification process for data centers,” he said. “That's useful, but that data is not made public. Those plans are not made public. What are the criteria that the Department of Commerce is using to evaluate whether that's a safe plan for local communities?"
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, data centers rank in the top 10 of water consuming industrial or commercial industries in the United States.
However, some data centers use a closed loop system, which means the same water is continuously recirculating rather than constantly pulling fresh water.
"With those closed loop systems, they're usually running off of mine pools, so thinking about it in theory, if you're running off a closed loop system everything that is pulled up is going right back into where it came from, but in order for mines to not pressurize and end up bursting open there has to be discharged somewhere,” Rev. Caitlin Ware said. “At the end of the day, that is getting discharged somewhere."
Ware has been outspoken about the water crisis that has plagued parts of West Virginia for generations. She said some communities where new data center developments have been announced aren’t capable of serving their own residents with safe, clean water.
"You look at the communities in Mingo County, we have communities there that haven't had safe drinking water in 60-plus years,” she said. “So these companies are looking at treating some of these water sources to the point of being potable for their cooling towers, but not accessible to the communities. So what does that say for community benefits as far as willing to pull the water out and treat it for yourself, but not the community?"
Advocates said they plan to speak out during the 2027 legislative session to demand change and for action to be taken to preserve water sources in West Virginia communities.
FULL STORY: wchstv.com/news/local/data-center-announcements-in-west-virginia-spark-concerns-over-water-usage-transparency
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For the latest local and national news, visit our website: wchstv.com
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As data center projects continue to pop up across West Virginia, water usage remains one of the largest concerns.
Environmental advocates have been raising those concerns and asking for developers to include the communities in the process.
"It's not a question of can these facilities impact local water resources. The question is, how do we manage that?” West Virginia Rivers Coalition Senior Scientist Nathaniel Hitt said. “And are we going to include the local communities who know best?"
Ten data center facilities have already been proposed in West Virginia.
"We've seen this story before so many times companies come here and they extract resources, and then when the markets change or the resources are gone, so are the companies,” Hitt said.
This all comes after the legislature passed House Bill 2014, which incentives data centers to come to the Mountain State by allowing them to produce their own power using microgrids.
Notably, it also removes local and county zoning jurisdiction over the campuses. This has raised concerns for noise pollution and water usage.
"The question isn't should we have AI and cloud computing?” Hitt said. “The question is will local communities who are impacted by these have a seat at the table and have a voice in the process?”
The legislation was passed and promoted as key to economic development.
"Some of them – the large hyper-scale data centers – can consume up to 5 million gallons of water a day, but that can vary from data center to data center,” Hitt said. “So all those impacts are uncertain. And here's the key point, that local communities are being left out. We need basic transparency from data center developers and state government so that we can protect our communities and build safe water systems."
Hitt said local communities are not being involved in the conversations of data centers that are being built in their backyards, leaving the question of how many local resources will be used?
"The Western Union Department of Commerce collects information about the peak water demand and the source of that water as part of their site certification process for data centers,” he said. “That's useful, but that data is not made public. Those plans are not made public. What are the criteria that the Department of Commerce is using to evaluate whether that's a safe plan for local communities?"
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, data centers rank in the top 10 of water consuming industrial or commercial industries in the United States.
However, some data centers use a closed loop system, which means the same water is continuously recirculating rather than constantly pulling fresh water.
"With those closed loop systems, they're usually running off of mine pools, so thinking about it in theory, if you're running off a closed loop system everything that is pulled up is going right back into where it came from, but in order for mines to not pressurize and end up bursting open there has to be discharged somewhere,” Rev. Caitlin Ware said. “At the end of the day, that is getting discharged somewhere."
Ware has been outspoken about the water crisis that has plagued parts of West Virginia for generations. She said some communities where new data center developments have been announced aren’t capable of serving their own residents with safe, clean water.
"You look at the communities in Mingo County, we have communities there that haven't had safe drinking water in 60-plus years,” she said. “So these companies are looking at treating some of these water sources to the point of being potable for their cooling towers, but not accessible to the communities. So what does that say for community benefits as far as willing to pull the water out and treat it for yourself, but not the community?"
Advocates said they plan to speak out during the 2027 legislative session to demand change and for action to be taken to preserve water sources in West Virginia communities.
FULL STORY: wchstv.com/news/local/data-center-announcements-in-west-virginia-spark-concerns-over-water-usage-transparency
_________________________________________
Follow WCHS on social media:
Facebook: facebook.com/eyewitnessnewscharleston
Twitter: twitter.com/wchs8fox11
Instagram: instagram.com/wchs8fox11
For the latest local and national news, visit our website: wchstv.com
Sign up for our newsletter: wchstv.com/sign-up
