AI data center sues IID for 287M gallons; Valley growers eye 'buy and dry'
Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing wants Colorado River water to cool a 330 MW facility after cities refused wastewater. The case could shape whether on-farm allocations can shift to industry in Valley districts.
AI data center sues IID for 287M gallons; Valley growers eye 'buy and dry'
Key Takeaways
- Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing sued the Imperial Irrigation District for 287 million gallons per year.
- The requested volume equals about 880 acre‑feet, or roughly 0.028% of IID’s annual supply.
- The 330 MW project was promised wastewater by cities that later declined to deliver.
- Developers propose buying nearby farmland to transfer water allocations, raising job and fallowing concerns.
287 million gallons. That is what a proposed 330‑megawatt AI data center in the Imperial Valley says it needs each year for cooling, after two cities declined to provide reclaimed wastewater and the Imperial Irrigation District said no. If a court lets the developer shift on‑farm water to server halls, that template could travel fast to Valley districts where almonds and dairies already argue over every acre‑foot.
A small number on paper.
What the lawsuit says
Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing has sued to gain access to Colorado River water for the project, positioned as California’s largest AI data center. The ask pencils out to about 750,000 gallons a day, roughly 880 acre‑feet a year, and the company points out IID controls around 3.1 million acre‑feet. The project’s attorney says the data center would match the water use of about 160 irrigated acres and wouldn’t require new river allocation because the company plans to buy farmland with water attached, then stop irrigating those fields.
Why the Valley should care
"Buy and dry" is not a new phrase in water circles, but pairing it with AI‑scale power and cooling is new to California. If a judge blesses moving an agricultural allocation into an industrial meter, Westlands Water District and other San Joaquin Valley districts will get asked for similar deals sooner or later. Fresno County growers remember how fast fallowing spreads when one neighbor sells water or ground, then the huller or repair shop has fewer customers. The silage smell stuck in the July heat.
Jobs and acreage, not just gallons
The developer touts temporary construction work and a little over a hundred permanent jobs. IID and local voices counter that drying 160 acres here, 200 there, chips away at the labor tied to fields, ditch maintenance, equipment yards, and winter salad crops shipped through the same sheds. Even if 0.028% barely moves a canal gate, reallocating land and quota can thin out the regional job base that agriculture anchors. In plain terms, fewer cuts of hay, fewer rigs on the scales.
How much water that is
For Valley readers trying to size it, 880 acre‑feet equals the annual irrigation of a couple hundred acres depending on the crop and system. Almond growers talk in ranges from two to four acre‑feet per acre based on soil, district allocation, and whether they push yield at hull split. On a straight conversion, the data center’s cooling need falls in the same neighborhood as a midsize ranch or two efficient orchards, which is why the precedent looms larger than the daily draw.
The case now turns on whether a private buyer can pull water off fields and into chillers without widening the hole left behind in a farm town. Picture a quiet lateral, concrete still bright at noon, and a pad of transformers humming on the other side of the fence.
Central Valley AI is produced by the CVAI Agriculture Desk team and developed by Kaweah Tech, a regional firm that builds, deploys, and integrates AI solutions for businesses across California's Central Valley.