Oregon city drops fight to keep Google water use private

[douglas9]

Residents of The Dalles, Oregon, should soon know how much of their water Google's data centers have been using to cool the computers inside the cavernous buildings — information that previously was deemed a trade secret.

Data centers around the world help people stream movies, store trillions of photos and conduct daily business online, but a single facility can churn through hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per day. The issue is a sensitive one in The Dalles, which is experiencing a drought and where some residents have seen water levels in their wells drop.

A lawsuit by the city on behalf of Google — against Oregon’s biggest newspaper, The Oregonian/OregonLive — that sought to keep the water-use information confidential was dropped, the newspaper reported Thursday.


https://www.courthousenews.com/oregon-city-drops-fight-to-keep-google-water-use-private/

[Eugene]

1. "enough water in 2021 to cover the city's entire 7 square miles ... 3 inches ... deep"

Google says its data centers in the Oregon town consumed 274.5 million gallons (1 billion liters) of water last year. Dawn Rasmussen, who lives on the outskirts of The Dalles and has seen the level of her well water drop year after year, said she is shocked.

https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-oregon-the-dalles-climate-and-environment-f63f313b0ebde0d60aeb3dd58f51991c

Google now touts "the importance of transparency."