Water as a binding compute constraint
A litre of water does not mean the same thing everywhere.
Abstract. The programme connects data-centre water use with basin-level scarcity and seasonal conditions, then translates that context into a maximum supportable compute load.
Peak Water, Not Average Water
Working Paper v1.0 translates published utility and regional water evidence into a reproducible peak-water compute-capacity screen for Northern Virginia. Public working research; independent hydrology review not yet completed.
Baseline water stress is a ratio, not a volume.
The reference framework classifies annual water stress from low (<10%) to extremely high (>80%) based on withdrawals relative to available supply.
| Stress band | Withdrawals / available flow | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Low | <10% | Relatively low competition for supply |
| Low–medium | 10–20% | Increasing competition |
| Medium–high | 20–40% | Material constraint signal |
| High | 40–80% | High competition for supply |
| Extremely high | >80% | Strong potential binding constraint |
Reference finding: extremely high annual water stress.
Exposed in the annual reference finding.
Face high water stress at least one month per year.
Threshold used for the strongest stress class.
World Resources Institute, Aqueduct 4.0 / 2023 water-stress findings ↗. Basin stress, facility demand and competing uses are kept distinct in the place assessment.
A 100 MW site can convert WUE into an annual local water requirement.
At PUE 1.20 and WUE 0.50 L/kWh, a continuously loaded 100 MW IT facility implies roughly 525,600 m³ of annual site water use.
The next step is not to label this number “good” or “bad”; it is to test it against basin, utility, seasonal and permit constraints.