City Council members approved a resolution strongly opposing the unmitigated use of Detroit’s water resources to cool data centers without certain safeguards, as Detroit begins drafting a proposal to regulate data center development.
The resolution spearheaded by Council Member Mary Waters notes that artificial intelligence data centers use water to cool down and “consume a tremendous amount of resources.” Large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water a day, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Medium-sized centers can use as much as 110 million gallons a year — or how much about 1,000 households use annually — for cooling.
“The cumulative impact of these facilities is unknown as they continue to expand, and the Great Lakes region lacks a consistent and adequate regulatory framework to ensure the protection of precious freshwater supplies,” the resolution reads.
The document notes data centers can overburden local infrastructure, including water treatment facilities, and harm aquatic life. The resolution opposes the unmitigated use of Detroit’s water resources to cool AI data centers “without proper monitoring and without reasonable efforts to minimize water usage and environmental impacts.”
The resolution comes as the City Planning Commission works to draft a proposal that would govern data center developments in Detroit.
The commission got to work on the proposal in June following a series of meetings of a cross-sector data center working group convened by City Councilman Scott Benson. As the policy effort gets underway, city planning and building officials are also working to determine what types of small-scale facilities are already operating in Detroit.
“What we’re trying to do is come up with a Detroit-specific solution,” said City Planning Commission Director Marcell Todd. He reiterated that Detroit can’t accommodate “hyperscale” facilities, which start at 250 acres.
Earlier this year, the council approved a resolution urging Mayor Mary Sheffield to implement a two-year moratorium on data center developments. The mayor’s office this month said Sheffield had not made a determination on the moratorium request.
Benson said Tuesday that it’s important to protect residents.
“It is incumbent upon us and it’s critical that we place something on the books to protect our residents,” he said. “What we have right now — there is no protection against a well-financed and resourced data center developer coming into the city.”
