UN says AI data centers gulp 1.2T gallons; Turlock, growers eye the ripple
A new UN report tallies nation-sized power and water use for AI data centers. Here’s what that could mean for Turlock-area pumps and rates this summer.
UN says AI data centers gulp 1.2T gallons; Turlock, growers eye the ripple
Key Takeaways
- A UN report estimates data centers used 448 TWh and 1.2 trillion gallons in 2025.
- By 2030, data centers could draw nearly 3% of global electricity.
- Turlock Irrigation District finished canal-top solar pilots with UC Merced in 2025.
- Tracy officials say no data center application is on file as of April 20, 2026.
What the UN counted
448 terawatt-hours. That’s the electricity data centers used last year, according to a United Nations University report that also puts their water use at 1.2 trillion gallons and their emissions near Argentina’s yearly output. The report says AI buildout will double those impacts within four years if current trends hold. By 2030, data centers could account for nearly 3% of global power demand.
Why it matters here lands close to the pump, because power and water that feed servers have to come from somewhere, and the bill shows up in rates and allocations the Valley watches every summer.
Where the Valley fits
There’s interest in siting compute away from the coasts, where land is cheaper and substations sit close to open ground. In Turlock, one small facility is already listed at under 10 megawatts. City of Tracy officials, meanwhile, put out a statement in April saying they’ve received no application for a data center on the much-discussed West Tracy site. So the local buildout is early, and still fuzzy.
For growers in Stanislaus and Merced counties, the near-term question is simpler: if large new loads land on the same wires that run your pumps and hullers, do your bills jump again in August. And do districts have to reshuffle plans to cover summer peaks.
Water and cooling
Most data centers cool with air for most of the year, then switch to water on very hot days, though designs vary by operator and site. Microsoft says it’s rolling out a closed-loop approach with zero water evaporation at future sites and expanding recycled-water setups elsewhere, a change that shifts some burden from water to electricity. That helps in desert markets, but it still means megawatts on the grid.
The UN report is blunt about volume. Even a small share of global water mapped to AI is big in drought years, and those years still come here. The air by the Turlock Main Canal smelled like algae and hot metal at noon.
What local districts are doing
Turlock Irrigation District finished a canal-top solar pilot in 2025, with UC Merced researchers tracking the data. Solar over water reduces evaporation and adds daytime power near pumps, which takes a little pressure off peak hours. It’s not a data center policy. It’s one tool districts already have in the ground.
TID also has the Walnut Energy Center, a gas plant that helps cover summer spikes when irrigation and air conditioning run together. If AI infrastructure grows in the Valley, expect districts like TID and MID to run that peaker mix more often unless new supply shows up in time.
"We need clear, accurate load forecasts before we change anything," one Turlock engineer told me last fall. A white TID pickup rolled past the turnout on Canal Drive.
Central Valley AI is produced by the CVAI Newsdesk team and developed by Kaweah Tech, a regional firm that builds, deploys, and integrates AI solutions for businesses across California's Central Valley.