Google Reports 732 Million Gallons of Nebraska Data Center Water Use

Key Takeaways

• Google’s Nebraska water consumption rose sharply as its data center footprint expanded.
• Cooling choices trade water demand against electricity use, making local conditions central to facility design.
• Nebraska will collect data center water and energy disclosures under a law passed in 2026.

Google’s Nebraska data centers consumed about 732 million gallons of water in 2025, representing a steady increase in recent years according to the company's self-reported figures. The rising consumption puts a concrete number behind a debate spreading across Nebraska: how much water should communities allocate to digital infrastructure as demand for cloud and AI computing grows?

The total is larger than the combined amount used by Omaha Metropolitan Utilities District customers during an average week. Yet scale changes the interpretation. A University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law professor estimated that Google’s consumption equaled the water required to irrigate thousands of acres of central Nebraska cornfields. Statewide, Nebraska irrigates approximately 9.1 million acres, according to experts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Google operates Nebraska data center locations in Omaha, Papillion and Lincoln. Google built the Papillion facility in 2019 and the Omaha facility in 2022, then announced the Lincoln project in 2023. Across the Missouri River, Google’s Council Bluffs, Iowa, data center consumed hundreds of millions of gallons in 2025, more than any other Google data center location that year.

The term "water use" can describe different measurements. Withdrawal is the total volume taken from a utility or natural source. Consumption is the portion not returned to the local supply, often because it evaporates during cooling. Meta reported withdrawals for its 4-million-square-foot Sarpy County facility starting at 26.7 million gallons and increasing annually between 2020 and 2024. Google reports both withdrawal and consumption.

Cooling design explains much of the variation. Evaporative systems can reduce the electricity needed to remove server heat, but they typically consume more water. Closed-loop, air-cooled chiller systems recirculate water, coolant or both for years, though they tend to require more electricity. The CEO of T5 Data Centers noted that all T5 facilities built over the past 10 to 15 years use closed-loop systems, with some operating without a complete fluid replacement since opening.

Which resource should a data center conserve when saving water can increase electricity demand? An engineering professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, stated that the answer depends on facility design, climate, water and power availability, and local priorities. Google uses evaporative cooling or closed-loop air-cooled chillers depending on water conditions, while Meta combines both approaches in Sarpy County. Power generation can add another layer because coal, nuclear and natural gas plants may also consume water.

Location is therefore becoming a business and permitting issue, not merely an engineering decision. The Metropolitan Utilities District can supply about 320 million gallons daily, compared with average demand of approximately 98 million gallons. Its territory includes at least 10 data centers classified as high-water-use customers. Lincoln can supply about 110 million gallons per day and currently has one data center in its service territory.

Conditions can be much tighter elsewhere. Some Nebraska groundwater and surface-water areas are fully or over-appropriated, potentially requiring an existing user to stop before another begins. Residents near Adams have questioned whether Gage County could support land optioned by Tenaska for a potential natural gas plant and data center. The general manager of the Nemaha Natural Resources District indicated that the underlying area may not contain enough water for both facilities.

Transparency is the near-term policy response. A law approved by the Nebraska Legislature during its 2026 session directs the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment to begin collecting information such as annual water use and energy demand later this year. Better disclosures could help utilities evaluate annual consumption, peak daily requirements and cooling methods before approving large projects. For operators, that raises the value of site-specific engineering and early engagement with water districts. For communities, it offers something simpler but overdue: comparable numbers before scarce resources are committed.