#WaterShortage fears as Labour’s first #AIGrowth zone sited close to new #reservoir
First #datacentre site proposed seven miles from #AbingdonReservoir planned for water-stressed #SouthEastEngland
by Helena Horton Environment reporter
Mon 13 Jan 2025
"Labour’s first artificial intelligence growth zone will be sited close to the UK’s first new reservoir in 30 years, sparking fears that the AI push will add to the 'severe pressure' on water supplies in the area.
"Keir Starmer announced on Monday that he would hugely increase artificial intelligence capacity and reduce planning restrictions on companies that wanted to build datacentres by setting up '#GrowthZones' with fewer constraints [like #ExportProcessingZones and #FreeTradeZones].
"The first of these will be in #CulhamOxfordshire, only seven miles from a reservoir planned by #ThamesWater in Abingdon, which was supposed to provide water to people in the severely water-stressed south-east of England. This is the area of the country most at risk of running out of water, according to the Environment Agency. #Oxfordshire has faced particular issues, with areas reliant on #BottledWater during #heatwaves.
"AI datacentres use a large amount of water, as their servers generate heat. To prevent computer systems overheating and shutting down, the centres use cooling towers and outside air systems, both of which need clean, fresh water. AI consumes between 1.8 and 12 litres of water for each kilowatt hour of energy usage across Microsoft’s global datacentres. One study estimates that global AI could account for up to 6.6bn cubic metres of water use by 2027 – the equivalent of nearly two-thirds of England’s annual consumption.
"Even without a big increase in AI datacentres, by 2050, England faces a shortfall of nearly 5bn litres of water a day between the sustainable supplies available and the expected demand. This is more than a third of the 14bn litres of water currently put into public supply. The south-east faces a potential deficit of more than 2.5bn litres a day in the same period.
"AI could wipe out gains made by businesses in reducing their water consumption; the government is seeking a 9% reduction in non-household (business) consumption by 2037-38 from 2019-20 levels, and currently businesses are on course to achieve a reduction of 6.1%.
Adrian Ramsay MP, Green Party co-leader, said: 'While communities will face #heatwaves, #droughts and water shortages over the coming decades, this strategy locks us into pumping huge amounts of water into AI datacentres. One estimate said AI-related infrastructure may soon consume six times more water than Denmark, a country of 6 million people. What will this mean for residents in water-stressed communities like Culham in Oxfordshire?'"
Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/13/labour-ai-datacentre-growth-zone-water-shortages-abingdon-reservoir
#WaterIsLife #DataCenters #WaterShortages #NoWaterForData #NoWaterForAI #NoNukesForAI #BigData
Greg Cocks 
