Wakulla Springs is one of the largest freshwater springs in the world. It's sometimes called the "gem of North Florida," but resident Jason Robinson worries the heavy water use of an AI data center could change that. And he recently told Wakulla County Commissioners he's also worried about the potential impact to the area's seafood industry.
“You can add in the fisheries out here and the damage that can be done," Robinson says. "Now you’re looking at the ecological systems of this whole area right here. Don't matter if it's on one end of the county or this end of the county.”
Wakulla County recently passed a ban on data centers, as did commissioners in Jackson County.
Jackson County resident Elijah Simmons says he’s glad to see the communities taking action, but he’d like to see broader protections.
"It’s inspirational for the counties all around to do a similar thing. If they do it in Walton, it’s gonna affect us here in Jackson. If they do it in Holmes, it’ll affect us here and vice versa,” Simmons says.
Large-scale data centers use large amounts of water to cool the mega computers that power AI programs like ChatGPT. While bans will help keep Jackson and Wakulla County residents from seeing the centers in their own backyards, experts say that doesn’t take care of local water concerns entirely.
“The water we all rely on is all ultimately connected, if not above ground, below," says Erin Ryan, Associate Dean for Environmental Programs at Florida State University.
Ryan says most of Florida sits above the Floridan aquifer.
“We’re as a state all connected. If there is a water emergency in the South, but there’s water to be had in the North, the state could authorize water transfers,” Ryan says.
Ryan also says the concern is not just about water being drawn out of the aquifer to cool data centers, it’s also about what’s being put back in.
“The water that is used to cool data centers is going to be returned eventually to the environment if it doesn't evaporate away, but it's going to come in hot," Ryan says. "And that hot water can change the environment it returns to. It can change ecosystems, it can threaten aquatic life.
Ryan says hot water is considered a pollutant under the Clean Water Act. And she says the water will likely contain other pollutants as well.
“There are additives that are used to prevent the water in these cooling mechanisms from, you know, preventing algal growth and whatnot. And those are pollutants as well.”
Walt Trierweiler works with the Office of Public Counsel, which represents Floridians on issues concerning utilities, water, and wastewater. He says, despite some communities passing bans and moratoriums, data centers are likely coming to the state. Which is why he says, "It’s so important that we get it right, that we let the right companies in with the right plan and the right operation that would be wonderful for that community."
The discussions come as a new state law is set to go into effect in July. It gives local governments more control over where and whether data centers can be built in their communities. It also puts rules in place to ensure the companies behind the centers foot the bill for any added energy infrastructure needed and the law puts some environmental and water use protections in place.
