19119_Authority_April_2026

18 The Authority │ April ikstoltzfus.com 717-653-6789 D ata C enter W ater U se in the S usquehanna R iver B asin : B ehind the H eadlines The Susquehanna River Basin Commission is responsible for the regulation of large water users in its basin, an area nearly the size of South Carolina. Hyperscale data center campuses have a potential water use of millions of gallons per day. With the industry in its infancy in the basin, much remains to be learned. Here’s what we do know: • Despite media mention of dozens of potential data centers, the Commission has only issued one approval for Amazon Web Services in Salem Township, Pa. • Water usage for data center cooling varies widely by company and site. Cooling technologies, including water conservation methods, are evolving rapidly. • Depending on the cooling technology used, demands can range from very low (thousands) to high (millions) gallons per day. • Even with traditional cooling methods that utilize large amounts of water, demand can fluctuate based on seasonal temperatures. The highest water demands often coincide with the driest months of the year. This is a challenge for water utilities. • Water demands for individual projects often evolve through the planning stages. Initial asks may come in high, then drop based on actual water availability or cooling technology eventually chosen. • Water is also indirectly used by data centers during the cooling processes used for the creation of large electricity loads needed to power the centers. • Transparency of requested and approved water quantities will be vital to long-term water management. Source: SRBC Additional information can be found in SRBC’s article, Data Centers: Let’s Talk About Water Demands by Stacey Hanrahan, The Authority, August 2025 issue. Hyperscale Data Center FAQs can be found on SRBC’s website at: https://www.srbc.gov/about/news/docs/srbc- data-centers-faq.pdf