I Was Wrong About Data Center Water Consumption
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I Was Wrong About Data Center Water Consumption
1–10 of 33 posts
Re: I Was Wrong About Data Center Water Consumption
#2Oops!
Re: I Was Wrong About Data Center Water Consumption
#3In the comments someone mentioned 400 golf courses in Arizona, and it got me to wondering...
In the US, golf courses consumed 1.68 million acre-feet of water in 2022[0] (down 29% from 2006, they are pleased to report), which works out to 1,499 million gallons per day.
So golf courses consume three times as much water as AI. Were's the proportional level of outrage over that issue, I wonder?
[0] https://gcmonline.com/course/environment/news/water-manageme...
Re: I Was Wrong About Data Center Water Consumption
#4Oops! I helped spread misinformation to a huge number of people, shoot!
Re: I Was Wrong About Data Center Water Consumption
#5In the comments someone mentioned 400 golf courses in Arizona, and it got me to wondering... In the US, golf courses consumed 1.68 million acre-feet of water in 2022[0] (down 29% from 2006, they are pleased to report), which works out to 1,499 million gallons per day. So golf courses consume three times as much water as AI. Were's the proportional level of outrage over that issue, I wonder? [0] https://gcmonline.com/…
What is the growth rate of golf course water consumption?
Re: I Was Wrong About Data Center Water Consumption
#6In the comments someone mentioned 400 golf courses in Arizona, and it got me to wondering... In the US, golf courses consumed 1.68 million acre-feet of water in 2022[0] (down 29% from 2006, they are pleased to report), which works out to 1,499 million gallons per day. So golf courses consume three times as much water as AI. Were's the proportional level of outrage over that issue, I wonder? [0] https://gcmonline.com/…
i’ve seen plenty of people upset at golf courses, in fact it was so prominent a lot of golf courses were actively looking at ways they could use more water friendly landscaping on the sides of greens instead of the lush landscaping.
either way, if a murderer says “why are you charging me? someone else was murdereded last night in the next town over!” People would rightfully laugh at the murderer and continue to charge him, and rightfully so.
Re: I Was Wrong About Data Center Water Consumption
#7In the comments someone mentioned 400 golf courses in Arizona, and it got me to wondering... In the US, golf courses consumed 1.68 million acre-feet of water in 2022[0] (down 29% from 2006, they are pleased to report), which works out to 1,499 million gallons per day. So golf courses consume three times as much water as AI. Were's the proportional level of outrage over that issue, I wonder? [0] https://gcmonline.com/…
People actually interested in environmental responsibility have been screaming about golf courses for decades and have succeeded at slowly improving regulations over the years. This kind of whataboutism comes off as very tired and unserious in 2025.
Re: I Was Wrong About Data Center Water Consumption
#8In the comments someone mentioned 400 golf courses in Arizona, and it got me to wondering... In the US, golf courses consumed 1.68 million acre-feet of water in 2022[0] (down 29% from 2006, they are pleased to report), which works out to 1,499 million gallons per day. So golf courses consume three times as much water as AI. Were's the proportional level of outrage over that issue, I wonder? [0] https://gcmonline.com/…
Golf courses also get de-facto tax subsidies under a property value tax, because they're basically empty lots.
If you bought that golf course and built something productive that produced value for the community, like apartments, detached houses, a factory, a store, anything at all, you'd suddenly have to pay more tax on it.
A land value tax would push golf courses further from city centers.
Re: I Was Wrong About Data Center Water Consumption
#9[dead]
Re: I Was Wrong About Data Center Water Consumption
#10In the comments someone mentioned 400 golf courses in Arizona, and it got me to wondering... In the US, golf courses consumed 1.68 million acre-feet of water in 2022[0] (down 29% from 2006, they are pleased to report), which works out to 1,499 million gallons per day. So golf courses consume three times as much water as AI. Were's the proportional level of outrage over that issue, I wonder? [0] https://gcmonline.com/…
Different kettles of fish I guess and I've no doubt people have been complaining about golf course water usage.
The AI comparison mentioned I believe is really just data center consumption which goes much further than just AI but a large amount of important compute power and storage, with most of it unseen.
Golf courses are at least pleasant to look at and whilst they might use a lot of water, most people can understand it given their own need to water their own lawns. Whereas a data center uses both comparative levels of water, but also enormous amounts of electricity. Whereas a golf course doesn't use even a small fraction of the same amount of electricity.
Even large parklands and other green areas need large amounts of water, but most people are not going to disagree with that.