By: Sam Eckler
OMAHA, Neb. — As more data centers come to Nebraska, questions are growing about how much water the facilities use and how transparent companies should be about their impact on the state’s resources.
Data centers are buildings filled with computers that store and process information used for internet searches, cloud software, and artificial intelligence. Those computers generate large amounts of heat and must be cooled to continue operating.
Some data centers use water as part of that cooling process.
Meta reported withdrawing up to 37 million gallons of water at its Sarpy County data center from 2020 through 2024. Google reported consuming 732 million gallons at its Nebraska data centers in 2025.
As companies continue building and expanding data centers in Nebraska, some are questioning what the state receives in exchange for the resources those facilities require.
Mark Gudgel, runner-up for the Omaha Public Power District 2 board seat, said Nebraska offers several advantages to companies looking to build data centers.
“The land is cheap, the power is public, the labor is exploitable because the cost of living is low, and the water is relatively unregulated,” Gudgel said. “They get all this benefit from being here, so my question is what do we get in return?”
Water used by data centers can come from the same supplies communities rely on for drinking water, businesses and agriculture. Nebraska has a large water supply, but as additional facilities are built, they could create more demand for those resources.
While experts say existing data centers may not currently be straining Nebraska’s water supply, concerns remain about what could happen if larger facilities continue moving into the state.
Environmental advocates are also calling for more transparency surrounding the industry’s expansion.
Kenneth Winston, director of the Nebraska chapter of the Sierra Club, said communities should have access to information about a proposed data center before deciding whether they want one.
“If the community doesn’t want one, they shouldn’t have it forced on them,” Winston said. “But … if it’s going to be someplace and the community is interested in having one, there should be full disclosure of everything. What is the potential water usage?”
Nebraska requires data centers to report their water and electricity use each year under Governor Jim Pillen’s July 20th executive order. However, some information can be withheld from the public when companies consider it confidential business information.
According to KOLN, Google included redacted sections in a September report covering all three of its Nebraska data centers, labeling the information as “trade secret information.”
KOLN reported that the redacted information could still be revealed through a workaround. The information showed 13 million gallons of water use during the previous year, less than half of what the city of Lincoln said it used.
As Nebraska continues attracting data center development, the debate is expanding beyond how much water the facilities use today to how communities can understand and prepare their future demands.
