NGWA Highlights Role Of Groundwater Professionals In Addressing Data Center Cooling Needs

Experts outline how geothermal systems and responsible groundwater management can help meet rapid expansion on digital infrastructure

The National Ground Water Association (NGWA) is underscoring the role groundwater professionals play in helping communities responsibly manage water resources as data centers expand across the United States through the release of a new position paper and a three-part series in its monthly trade magazine, Water Well Journal.

The position paper notes that continued data center growth must be planned and managed in a manner that protects groundwater resources relied upon by communities and ecosystems. NGWA emphasizes that policymakers, regulators, and data center developers should incorporate groundwater sustainability into siting, permitting, and operational decisions, including clear disclosure of water sources and water use.

The association also strongly supports evaluating and implementing geothermal systems and other low-water-use technologies as scalable solutions that can significantly reduce—or eliminate—consumptive water use for data center cooling.

The paper was developed by NGWA’s Data Center Task Force, which is comprised of water well contractors, groundwater scientists and engineers, and suppliers and manufacturers of groundwater technology.

The United States currently leads the world in data center development by a significant margin, with more than 5,400 data centers as of November 2025, making the coming years critical for addressing their water and energy demands.

Annual water use varies widely depending on facility size. According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, a midsize data center may use approximately 110 million gallons of water per year, while a large hyperscale facility may use as much as 1.8 billion gallons annually—roughly comparable to the water consumption of a medium-sized town.

Looking ahead, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates total on-site water consumption from data centers could double—or even quadruple—by 2028 compared to the national total of 17 billion gallons used in 2023.

“Groundwater professionals must play an important role in ensuring long-term water sustainability is a key consideration in the rapid growth of data centers,” said Seth Kellogg, PG, president of NGWA and senior principal geologist at Geosyntec Consultants Inc. “Working with regulators and industry we can incorporate smart groundwater management and the use of technologies like geothermal systems to enable communities to support the infrastructure needed for this fast evolving economy while protecting the water resources they depend on.”

The position paper and the full three-part Water Well Journal series are available on NGWA’s webpage dedicated to “Issue: Data Centers and Groundwater.”

About The National Ground Water Association
The National Ground Water Association is a not-for-profit professional society and trade association for the global groundwater industry. Our members around the world include leading public and private sector groundwater scientists, engineers, water well system professionals, manufacturers, and suppliers of groundwater-related products and services. The Association’s vision is to be the leading groundwater association advocating for responsible development, management, and use of water.

Water Well Journal has been recognized for more than 75 years as the leading industry resource for business owners in the water well industry. The journal is delivered to approximately 20,000 groundwater professionals each month covering topics such as drilling techniques, pumping systems, well maintenance, water quality and treatment, and more.