Dakota Mainstem Regional Water System, a coalition of over 50 towns and water providers, will spend $4.2 million over the next two and a half years studying the future water needs of eastern South Dakota and adjoining states. But one East River water expert says data centers may not be main drivers of increased water consumption:
Jay Gilbertson, manager of East Dakota Water Development, said future development of Sioux Falls and local communities needs to see an increase in the water supply because modern systems won’t be able to handle the supply long-term.
“One big plant can use one million gallons a day, which is roughly equivalent to the demand of 4,300 households,” he said.
Gilbertson said that future development projects like processing plants, big industrial factories, and possibly data centers would require water usage. However, Gilbertson said specific data center proposals in eastern South Dakota would take up very little water. “The data centers that have been proposed have very low water consumption, and they aren’t the reason the study is going forward” [Quinn Gienapp, “Dakota Mainstem Not Waiting for a Water ‘Crisis’,” KELO-TV, 2026.07.30].
Data centers may even use less water than the same amount of land occupied by irrigated cropland:
Ann Gravatt and Jesse Gronner shook hands, offered food and fielded questions from people around the region curious or skeptical about the Oregon-based company’s plans to build a data center. Locals shuffled around the room to learn about what this project entails. Some with arms crossed to send a clear signal about their skepticism.
It will take a lot of water. To be specific, the company Triple Oak Power told local authorities it would take 600 million gallons per year, which is as much as the town Great Bend, with a population just over 14,000. Gravatt works in external affairs for Triple Oak, notes that as thirsty as it sounds, it would translate to water conservation. After all, the irrigation of crops on that land now pumps five times as much water.
“We will use less water than is currently being used at the property,’ Gravatt said.
Triple Oak Power wants to take over 6,000 acres of farmland near Garden City to build a data center surrounded by a sprawling array of solar panels, wind turbines and a natural gas plant.
…Today, those 6,000 acres use 3.2 billion gallons of water a year according to Finney County. That’s more than what all of Garden City uses in a year with a population of almost 30,000. The city used 2.17 billion gallons of water in 2023 [Calen moore, “An AI Data Center Project for Western Kansas Might Use Less Water Than Irrigation Farming,” High Plains Public Radio, 2026.06.09].
Data centers pose plenty of hazards to the quality of life (noise, pollution, robot destruction of humanity). But the water usage that motivated the Legislature and Governor Larry Rhoden to adopt new data center regulations this Session may not be among the biggest threats that data centers pose to South Dakota.
Using a closed-loop, self-sustaining process that operates through an engineered thermal cycle data centers can generate their own power and cool water simultaneously through an emerging decentralized strategy known as “Bring Your Own Power and Cooling” (BYOP&C). Driven by severe grid constraints from the AI boom, data centers are moving away from public utilities to build on-site microgrids.
AI Overview used two citations from this article. Way to go, Master.
I don’t believe there are many advantages to data centers. Claims are made that lots of people will be employed, houses will sell etc. However, Ellendale N.D. has a data center and there are no homes for the techies to buy or stores for supplies, so they’re staying in hotels in Aberdeen for now. It’s only 40 miles away.
Just let the legislature pick a few counties and go for it. It will all work out.
I like Gilbertson. I usually agree with him on water issues. Not on this issue.
So, would you rather supply water to 4,300 households (x3.5 people per household)=15,050 people, or to one data center in Sioux Falls.? That’s about the population of Mitchell, by the way.
When Governor Mickleson reformed the water development programs he put the needs of people as the top priority Water would be developed for people so farmers and city dwellers could have good quality water. Data centers would be far down on Mickelson’s list of priorities for water.
Mickelson’s list, of course, was required because he knew it costs a lot of money to construct the infrastructure to deliver water, and that money has to come from taxpayers. Do you really think these companies, who whine incessantly about needing all sorts of relief from taxation, are going to pay to construct the water infrastructure needed to supply them? Hell no they won’t.
Of course municipal water is also a top priority because it supplies water to people and important businesses and facilities. It used to be that large users of water got a huge break on the cost of the water they used. I’m not sure what the water pricing is like now. I would like to think that Sioux Falls would charge more per cubic feet of water for the big users to encourage them to conserve/recycle water. I’m sure, though, that large water users get a break.
I like the idea of a study, but it should come with a 2-year moratorium on construction of data centers and any other large users of water.