S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on today's show. We'll tell you the latest about it. Imperial Valley Data Center and a lawsuit over 260 million gallons of water. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation in. The Imperial Valley and in the Imperial Valley. Rather , the developer behind a massive data center is suing over water rights to the Colorado River. They're trying to access 260 million gallons of river water every year. The drought stricken Colorado River is the Imperial Valley's only source of fresh water. Joining me now is Corey Suzuki. He's South Bay and Imperial Valley reporter for KPBS. Corey , welcome to the show.
S2: Hey , Jade , thanks for having me.
S1: Glad to have you here. So before we get into the specifics of this lawsuit , give us a refresher. Where does the Imperial Valley Data Center stand right now? Right.
S2: Right. So this is a massive proposed AI data center complex. It's the idea is that it would go to or be leased by one of the large tech companies that are working to develop this technology and spread it outwards. And the size of the complex is really what has stood out to a lot of people. It would be the data center itself. The portion of it would be around 950,000ft² , and it would be located in the center of the Imperial Valley. And the project right now is kind of moving forward. I mean , it cleared a major hurdle with the county a couple of months ago , and the developer is now seeking access to power and water , which are two key things that the project needs to kind of get up and running.
S1: Tell me , just for people who don't know , how does how do those two things work together with data centers? Right.
S2: Right. Well , data centers are essentially giant computing warehouses , big buildings filled with some of the most powerful computers in the world. And they've been part of the infrastructure of the internet for a long time. But the size and scale of new data centers that we're seeing being built and proposed for companies like OpenAI and meta , which are trying to develop these technologies , are just are increasingly large and intake both increasingly large amounts of power. In some cases , like with this project , the projected use case at the kind of top of the range would be that it would or could potentially use more power , almost potentially twice as much power as the entire county of Imperial used in 2024. And when it comes to the energy that's just going to to run these systems , but also to keep them cool because computer chips generate a lot of energy.
S1: And that is that what the.
S2: Water is in the form of heat. Right. And exactly. And that's where the water comes in. Um , which not all data centers use water in the same way. Not all of them require the same amounts of water , but that's essentially what it's going to. To keeping these computer chips cool.
S1: You gain the power comparison. What about the water comparison? How much water does the county use compared to what this data center is asking for here?
S2: You know , you know , that's a good question. And I guess when we're talking about 260 millions of gallons of river water every year , which is what the this lawsuit is sort of focusing on right now , that's roughly equal to the annual needs of around 700 , 7003 hundred Imperial County residents. So it's it's smaller than some of the other very large water users in the Imperial Valley , which is home to some of the the biggest water users along the Colorado River in the form of farms. But it's it's still a significant ask when it comes to this this waterway.
S1: How is the community responding to the project? Well?
S2: Well? Just kind of like you said , going back to the project itself , um , this data center proposal has really faced a groundswell of opposition from residents and some local and state officials over concerns about its potential environmental impact. The potential implications for public health , for air quality , and also just the way that it is being developed and move forward. Some people feel like that the public is really not had a chance to give meaningful input on the shape of this , this project , and that backlash has kind of prompted this growing response from local elected officials in regards to data centers. More local officials considering pauses or even bans on this , these kinds of facilities.
S1: And tell me again who the developer behind the project is. Right.
S2: Right. Well , the developer behind this project is a businessman and lawyer who is based in Huntington Beach. His name is Sebastian Rucci , and he has faced criticism over how he has designed this project , which was specifically looking for industrial land , specifically a place where the project would not have to go through an in-depth environmental analysis. In his in his argument. And for this story , the this this most recent story about Imperial Valley computer manufacturing lawsuit , which is the company that Sebastian Rucci has has started to to to move this project forward. We reached out. They haven't responded to our interview requests.
S1: Well and for months. Sebastian promised that the project would not need to use water from the river. But now there's this lawsuit over Colorado River water. How did we get here? Right.
S2: Right. Well , Rucci made a strong point of saying this in the beginning , that the project would not take water from the Colorado River , and instead , what he said they would do is rely on recycled wastewater from nearby cities. Some of the cities nearby have this technology already to recycle certain amounts of municipal wastewater and clean it , and Rucci said that the company would agree to cover the cost of upgrading those wastewater treatment plants to pay for the water itself , potentially millions , and to route the excess treated water to the Salton Sea so that it would it would be going somewhere , somewhere else to sort of. His argument was to support other environmental issues in the in the Imperial Valley. But over time , what we have come to understand and what is outlined in this lawsuit is that those negotiations between Rich's company and those cities broke down , and both of those cities withdrew from the talks over recycled wastewater. And earlier this month , we get to this point where the company is now suing the Imperial Irrigation District , which is the regional public utility for both water and energy in the Imperial Valley. And the suit is asking for this very large amount of river water per year. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. And this is all happening against the backdrop of climate change. Um , they're asking for , what , 260 million gallons of of river water every year? Can you put that into perspective for me? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. I think , um , probably the best way to understand it. Water from the Colorado River is largely measured in something called acre feet , which is essentially the amount of water that it would take to cover an entire football field in , in water about a foot deep. Um , but to , to really kind of put that in , in practical terms for all of us. Um , again , 260 million gallons of river water is what the suit is specifically seeking access to. And again , roughly , that's about the same as how much water? Seven. Around 7000. A little over 7000 Imperial County residents would use in a year. And Imperial Valley Computer manufacturing has said that turning to ID , the Imperial Irrigation District for this water was a last resort. Um , they argue in their court filings that they had spent months trying to negotiate these agreements for recycled water , and that that was their their primary plan , and that ultimately , because those talks broke down , um , the company was forced to turn to ID for the water that they oversee , which comes from the Colorado River. And the company says they filed their lawsuit specifically because ID rejected their application for water back in May. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. Help us understand the relationship here between Rush's company and Ivy seed and the Imperial Irrigation District , otherwise known as ID as you. You just referred to it as. I mean , this is the first dispute between them. Is it?
S2: No , this isn't. Imperial Valley. Computer manufacturing has previously accused ID of treating the company unfairly. In a separate federal lawsuit earlier this year , the developer claimed that ID had been sort of slow walking their application for energy service separately for for electricity and had been imposing these unreasonable requests , financial requests. And the company has also complained that the agency accused the agency , I should say , of taking part in what they've described as a campaign to spark public outrage around the project. Specifically , what they point to is some of the public statements that some public officials on the IDs board of directors have made opposing the data center project. And that lawsuit , I should say , earlier this year , was against the city of Imperial and did not name ID or any agency officials as co-defendants. So this is sort of the first time that Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing is actually suing ID directly.
S1: Today , the Imperial County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider an emergency pause on data center development. What kind of tone have local leaders approached this debate with?
S2: Well , at first I would say it was it was pretty closed off. I mean , county officials , the Imperial County government is the main agency that has been up until this point , uh , deciding and overseeing the planning process for this project. And in the beginning , county officials wouldn't answer very many questions. I think many residents felt like there was a lack of transparency around the project. Some of that is typical in the planning process for projects to be moving forward outside of public view. But some , including State Senator Steve Padilla , who raised questions about the project back in December , felt like he even his office was not able to get answers about the project from the county and how it was kind of shaping up. Um , now , though , that has really changed. And in the last couple of months , city officials in a number of cities across the county , including Callopistria on the north end of the county , Brawley and the city of Imperial have considered or moved forward with temporary pauses on data center development. Some are even thinking about permanent bans. Not all of those actions have have advanced to the stage of being put in place. But , um , I think that kind of growing conversation at the city level , it seems , has now led the county to start considering a temporary pause of its own , which they're scheduled to debate today.
S1: And I want to talk about how this story is seeping into local politics , because you covered the race for the Division One seat In the Imperial Irrigation District board of directors. What's the story there?
S2: That's true. And I think that that race is one of the most prominent examples of the way that this nationwide data center boom , just to zoom out , that we're seeing across the country , is really emerging as a driving political force in the Imperial Valley this year. Both the data center moved to to build data centers itself , and also the rise and opposition that we've seen against this kind of infrastructure. And specifically in this case , there was a candidate who ran for the Division One seat on its board of directors. ID is a public utility , and so its board of directors is elected publicly. And , um , the candidate that entered the race , um , soon began receiving money from Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing. The company received spent around $30,000 on the race to support this candidate. And the candidate really , in the end , lost pretty overwhelmingly. So this was kind of an example of a company really putting some weighting into into this key election for what is really one of the most influential agencies in the Imperial Valley. And , um , at least in , in terms of the , the results that really not panning out. And I think that , um , you know , you could look at the results of that election and see different things , but , um , some of the , uh , data center opponents that I've spoken with , the activists who are working to stop this project , are trying to at least force it to go through a stricter environmental review process. Um , saw that as a statement by Imperial County voters that they were not ready to , uh , to to take that kind of money flowing into local elections , and that maybe they were also expressing their own questions about , um , about this project , about this overall , um , the overall rise in this kind of development and infrastructure and how it's going to affect communities like the Imperial Valley.
S1: And on that , can you put this story into the broader context of data center development in the US? Because Imperial Valley isn't the only place where there's a fight brewing over water , correct? Right.
S2: Right. That's true. Um , data center developers are increasingly looking to rural parts of the US. That's according to the Pew Research Center. And this includes places where water is scarce , according to new reporting that we're seeing earlier this month , an analysis by The Guardian found that the majority of new data centers are now being planned on land that is also experiencing drought conditions. And so I think What this shows really is , um , just this kind of as developers are looking outwards , looking to to other places to , to build these facilities. Um , the question that this raises now is how that's going to , um , how that's going to mesh with the needs of these communities of people who live in these areas and what exactly that's going to look like when something like water is , um , is hard to come by?
S1: I've been speaking with Corey Suzuki. He's South Bay and Imperial Valley reporter for KPBS. You can find and follow his work at KPBS. Corey , thank you so very much.
S2: Thank you. Jade.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
