RICHMOND, Va. — Drought conditions have pushed water reservoirs well below normal levels, prompting Richmond and Henrico County officials to ask all customers — including data centers — to reduce usage.
"On July 1, on Wednesday, we are going to need to move to voluntary water conservation measures," Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said.
Avula said the situation has not reached a crisis point, but that small changes can make a difference.
"We want people to continue to take showers and brush their teeth and all of those things, right? We're not in a dire straits situation yet. But by being thoughtful about shortening the time of your showers or shutting the faucet off in between when you're shaving or brushing your teeth," Avula said.
The announcement drew questions from residents, including concerns about whether data centers were being held to the same standard. Influencer Molly Bish raised the issue in a video posted to social media.
"You're expecting the entire population of Richmond to adjust their lifestyle for limiting their water usage however no where in your press release there was not a single mention on what the plan is for data centers. What daily caps do they have for water usage?" Bish said.
Richmond's Department of Public Utilities responded with a statement making clear no entity is exempt from the request.
"City Code requests the general public, businesses and public agencies in the City to implement and comply with those measures. No entity is exempt," the statement said.
Henrico County, one of several localities that sources water from the James River, echoed that position. Bentley Chan with Henrico County's Department of Public Utilities said the conservation request applies to everyone.
"When we ask people to conserve, when we ask them to, uh, voluntarily conserve, that extends to all of our customers and everybody, uh, in the county because we're all in this together," Chan said.
Chan also noted that while Henrico's technology park is home to 11 data centers, their water use is comparatively low.
"Comparatively to other industries and so data center usage is low because our highest users are those things that we may not think of like food producers, drink producers, pharmaceutical producers, hospitals, apartment complexes," Chan said.
He said most of the water data centers consume is tied to their initial construction.
"When they get built, they pull in some water to kind of fill everything up, fill all of the systems up. But beyond that, it's mostly like the sanitary uses," Chan said.
The Data Center Coalition also responded to a request for comment, saying in part:
"The data center industry is subject to and complies with restrictions imposed by local governments on businesses during periods of water shortage. The industry is committed to being a good neighbor in communities where it operates, which includes responsible and efficient use of key resources like water and energy," the statement said.
Tips on how to conserve water are available on both Henrico County's and the City of Richmond's social media pages and websites.
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