California AI Data Center Developer Sues Water Agency Over Colorado River Access
Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing (IVCM) has filed a lawsuit against the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) after the utility denied its water request for a planned 330-megawatt AI data center. The developer proposed offsetting the facility's annual 287-million-gallon water demand by halting irrigation on 160 acres of leased farmland. This dispute highlights the escalating conflict between resource-intensive AI infrastructure and local environmental constraints, particularly water scarcity in drought-prone regions. It also raises critical policy questions about whether agricultural water rights can be privately transferred to industrial tech projects. The proposed $10 billion data center would require 750,000 gallons of cooling water daily, representing about 880 acre-feet per year. Although this is only 0.03% of IID's annual allocation, Imperial County has placed a temporary moratorium on new data centers while reviewing regulations.
## BACKGROUND
Data centers require vast amounts of water for cooling to prevent IT equipment from overheating, a metric often tracked via Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE). In regions like California's Imperial Valley, water volumes are often measured in acre-feet (the volume of water needed to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot, equivalent to about 325,851 gallons), and water rights are managed as a public trust rather than private property.