Jefferson Township Water and Sewer District near Columbus has enacted mandatory outdoor water restrictions effective immediately, with fines up to $500 for violations. The district director confirmed their water plant is operating at its maximum capacity of 1.73 million gallons per day — a ceiling they have hit two consecutive summers — forcing the purchase of emergency bulk water from neighboring systems.
Yet Ohio continues to aggressively court data center development despite mounting evidence that the industry is exacerbating the state’s water supply pressures. Ohio is currently home to nearly 200 data centers, with 113 concentrated in Central Ohio alone. Columbus ranks as the tenth largest data center region in North America. According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, a single large data center can consume up to five million gallons of water per day — nearly three times what the entire Jefferson Township system can produce.
The Central Ohio Regional Water Study, conducted by state agencies, already concluded that water demand will increase for decades specifically due to data center growth. A bill requiring data centers to merely report their monthly water consumption has sat in committee without a hearing. Meanwhile Jerome Township has voted for a development moratorium and a grassroots coalition is racing toward a July 1 deadline to place a statewide data center ballot measure before Ohio voters.
Cleveland Leader asks the question Columbus seems unwilling to answer — if the water supply is maxed out and residents are being fined for watering their gardens, why are billion dollar tech facilities operating without limits or transparency on their consumption?