AI Data Centers Spark San Jose Water Concerns

San Jose is trying to attract a new wave of data centers, and the city’s own public record shows why residents and researchers are asking harder questions about water. A July 25, 2025 agreement between San Jose and PG&E was pitched as a way to make the city a “premier data center hub,” with PG&E citing nearly 2,000 megawatts of requested new demand in the area. A May 14, 2026 report from Next 10 and Santa Clara University added a new point of friction: California still lacks clear, consistent public accounting of how much water many data centers use for cooling. Local reporting on May 18 said that gap is now shaping debate in San Jose and across Santa Clara County as more projects move through planning and environmental review. The issue is not that every project has been shown to be overusing water. (sanjoseca.gov) The issue is that public agencies, neighbors and even researchers often cannot say with precision what future use will be, how it will vary by cooling system, or how it should be compared across projects, according to the report and subsequent coverage. ### Why is water a central question if data centers are mostly known for electricity use? (next10.org) Next 10’s May 14 report said large-scale data centers require significant water resources for cooling and are increasingly being sited in regions already facing constrained supplies from climate change. Santa Clara University’s Water and Climate Justice Lab says its work focuses on water access, climate disruption and environmental justice, which is why researchers there have been involved in the data-center analysis. (capradio.org) CapRadio reported on May 18 that lax disclosure rules leave the public in the dark about actual water use at many California data centers. San Jose Spotlight and Local News Matters reported that researchers see major blind spots in environmental review when projects do not provide standardized, easily comparable water-use information. (next10.org) ### What is San Jose actually planning or approving? The City of San Jose has already advanced at least one major project. A city environmental-review page says the “San Jose Data Center” project at 1657 Alviso-Milpitas Road would include two single-story data-center buildings totaling 396,914 square feet. The same filing says the project’s maximum electrical load would be 99 megawatts, with estimated load of 77 megawatts. (capradio.org) That page also says the site is near an existing power plant and wastewater treatment facility and that project modifications triggered changes involving Santa Clara Valley Water purification-center parking and a visitor center. Those details help explain why infrastructure questions in north San Jose now extend beyond electricity to land use, backup generation and water systems. (sanjoseca.gov) ### Is Santa Clara County short on water right now? Valley Water’s monthly tracker, dated May 1, 2026, said local reservoir storage other than Anderson Reservoir was near the historical average for that time of year and that groundwater conditions remained healthy. The agency also said the end-of-2026 groundwater outlook was projected to remain in Stage 1, or normal, under its water-shortage contingency plan. (sanjoseca.gov) Those conditions do not settle the debate. Researchers and residents are focused on whether long-lived industrial facilities should be approved without clearer reporting and review standards, especially in a state where drought cycles and imported-water allocations can change quickly. That concern is reflected in the statewide report and in local coverage of San Jose’s planning fights. ### What are residents and researchers asking the city to do? (valleywater.org) San Jose Spotlight reported that residents have pressed city officials to require stronger environmental review before more facilities are approved. Researchers cited in the local coverage said project-by-project review often does not produce the kind of statewide, standardized water accounting that would let communities compare one proposal with another. (next10.org) The city has continued to market itself as ready for more development. In the 2025 PG&E announcement, Mayor Matt Mahan said the agreement would help San Jose “lead the AI revolution” by increasing grid capacity and reliability, while PG&E CEO Patti Poppe said the utility was prepared to power the city’s growth. ### What happens next in Sacramento and San Jose? California legislators are also weighing new rules. (sanjosespotlight.com) SB 887, introduced by state Sen. Steve Padilla, would change how data-center projects are handled under the California Environmental Quality Act and set conditions tied to water use and clean energy for certain fast-tracked projects, according to legislative tracking and Padilla’s office. In San Jose, the next concrete fights are likely to stay in public planning files, environmental-review documents and council or commission hearings tied to individual projects. (sanjoseca.gov) The city’s environmental-review portal and council-agenda system remain the main places where residents can track filings, hearing dates and comment opportunities as more data-center proposals move forward. (sanjoseca.gov) (legiscan.com)