Example: A New Mexico community opposes a data center

In Los Lunas, Meta’s data center campus was given the ok to expand, and citizens protested increased water use. The Albuquerque Journal reported that the Village of Los Lunas city attorney Jill Sweeney said the existing agreement with Meta gave the company the rights to 1.5 million gallons per day. But Meta has put in a water reuse program that put average day demand at 155,000 gallons. It uses 80% less water than the average data center, according to Sweeney. She also said that the facility returns more water to the Rio Grande watershed than it consumes. Water returned to the watershed is not the same as water available to Los Lunas for drinking. The facility currently consumes 5% of the town’s water use.

The Journal’s coverage included:
“…50 Valencia County farmers and residents protested the expansion plans with a vehicle caravan to the Los Lunas village administration offices. They carried signs saying, ‘Water for peoples’ needs, not corporate greed’ and ‘Stop sucking Valencia County dry’. … Deirdra Velazquez, a member of Valencia Water Watch, said the community organization has not confirmed Facebook’s claims about efficient water and energy use at its data center campus. ‘We’re not anti-Facebook,’ Velazquez said. ‘But the village has been doling out our water to different corporations.’ “