AI demand means data centres are worsening drought in Mexico

Situated in the course of Mexico, Querétaro is a captivating and vibrant colonial-style metropolis identified for its dazzling stone aqueduct.

However the metropolis, and state of the identical identify, can also be recognised for a really totally different motive – as Mexico’s information centre capital.

Throughout the state corporations together with Microsoft, Amazon Internet Companies and ODATA personal these warehouse-like buildings, stuffed with laptop servers.

Nobody might provide a precise quantity, however there are scores of them, with extra being constructed.

Ascenty, which claims to be the most important information centre firm in Latin America, has two in Querétaro, each round 20,000 sq ft in measurement, with a 3rd beneath development.

It’s forecast that greater than $10bn (£7.4bn) in information centre-related funding will pour into the state within the subsequent decade.

“The demand for AI is accelerating the development of knowledge centres at an unprecedented pace,” says Shaolei Ren, affiliate professor {of electrical} and laptop engineering on the College of California Riverside.

So, what is the attraction of Querétaro?

“It is a very strategic area,” explains Arturo Bravo, Mexico nation supervisor at Ascenty.

“Querétaro is true within the center [of the country], connecting east, west, north and south,” he says.

Meaning it’s comparatively near Mexico Metropolis. Additionally it is related to high-speed information cables, so giant quantities of knowledge could be shifted rapidly.

Mr Bravo additionally factors out that there’s assist from the municipality and central authorities.

“It has been recognized as a know-how hub,” he says. “Each present a whole lot of good alternate options when it comes to permits, regulation and zoning.”

However why are many US corporations selecting this state over someplace nearer to house?

“The facility grid capability constraint within the US is pushing tech corporations to seek out obtainable energy anyplace they will,” says Shaolei Ren, affiliate professor {of electrical} and laptop engineering on the College of California Riverside, including that the price of land and power, and business-friendly insurance policies are additionally engaging.

Knowledge centres host hundreds of servers – a specialised sort of laptop for processing and sending information.

Anybody that is labored with a pc on their lap will know that they get uncomfortably sizzling. So to cease information centres melting down, elaborate cooling programs are wanted which may use big quantities of water.

Nevertheless, not all information centres devour water on the similar charge.

Some use water evaporation to dissipate the warmth, which works effectively however is thirsty.

A small information centre utilizing this kind of cooling can use around 25.5 million litres of water per 12 months.

Different information centres, like these owned by Ascenty, use a closed-loop system, which circulates water by way of chillers.

In the meantime, Microsoft instructed the BBC it operates three information centres in Querétaro. They use direct out of doors air for cooling roughly 95% of the 12 months, requiring zero water.

It stated for the remaining 5% of the 12 months, when ambient temperatures exceed 29.4°C, they use evaporative cooling.

For the fiscal 12 months 2025, its Querétaro websites used 40 million litres of water, it added.

That is nonetheless a whole lot of water. And in case you take a look at total consumption on the largest information centre homeowners then the numbers are big.

For instance, in its 2025 sustainability report Google acknowledged that its whole water consumption elevated by 28% to eight.1bn gallons between 2023 to 2024.

The report additionally stated that 72% of the freshwater it used got here from sources at “low threat of water depletion or shortage”.

As well as, information centres additionally not directly devour water, as water is required to provide electrical energy.

The additional water consumption by information centres is a giant drawback for some in Querétaro which final 12 months endured the worst drought of a century, impacting crops and water provides to some communities.

At her house in Querétaro, activist Teresa Roldán tells me residents have requested the authorities for extra info and transparency concerning the information centres and the water they use however says this has not been forthcoming.

“Personal industries are being prioritised in these arid zones,” she says. “We hear that there is going to be 32 information centres however water is what’s wanted for the individuals, not for these industries. They [the municipality] are prioritising giving the water they should the personal business. Residents are usually not receiving the identical high quality of the water than the water that the business is receiving.”

Talking to the BBC in Querétaro, Claudia Romero Herrara, founding father of water activist organisation Bajo Tierra Museo del Agua,  would not remark straight on the info centres resulting from a ignorance however says she’s involved concerning the state’s water points.

“It is a state that’s already going through a disaster that’s so complicated and would not have sufficient water for human disposal. The precedence needs to be water for fundamental means…that is what we have to assure after which perhaps assume if there are some sources obtainable for every other financial exercise. There was a battle of curiosity on public water coverage for the final twenty years.”

A spokesperson for the federal government of the state of Querétaro defended their choice saying: “We now have all the time stated and reiterated that the water is for citizen consumption, not for the business. The municipality has zero colleges to water allocation and even much less to assign water high quality. Nor the state, nor the municipality can water allocate to any business or the first sector, that is a job for the Nationwide Water Fee.”

One other concern for these residing close to information centres is air air pollution.

Prof Ren says information centres usually depend on diesel backup mills that launch giant quantities of dangerous pollution.

“The hazard of diesel pollution from information centres has been effectively recognised,” he says, pointing to a health assessment of the air high quality surrounding native information centres by the Division of Ecology on the state of Washington.

Mr Bravo responded to these considerations by saying: “We function beneath the phrases and circumstances specified by authorities, which, in flip, in my perspective, are those taking good care of the truth that these circumstances are acceptable for the communities round and the well being of all people.”

As for the longer term, Ascenty is planning extra information centres within the area.

“I do see it simply sort of progressing and progressing, with a brand new information centre there each few years,” says Mr Bravo.

“The business will proceed to develop as AI grows. It is an awesome future when it comes to what’s coming.”