MP raises AI Growth Zone water usage questions

The Government does not appear to have factored water impacts explicitly into its plans for AI Growth Zones – areas with enhanced access to power and support for planning approvals, to accelerate the build of AI infrastructure.

Labour MP Clive Lewis last week posed two written questions on the subject in Parliament, to ask: whether the environment secretary has “made an assessment of the potential impact of proposed plans to make it easier to build data centres on levels of water usage” and whether Defra will “take steps to monitor the water usage of data centres built in AI Growth Zones”.

Water minister Emma Hardy gave a general answer in response: “As part of the Government’s commitment to reduce the use of public water supply by 20% by 2037/38, Defra continues to work with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Department for Business and Trade and the Environment Agency to determine how water efficiency and demand in data centres can be improved.”