Virginia groundwater study warns of added pressure from data-center growth

Virginia has released a delayed study warning that groundwater supplies in the Eastern Virginia Coastal Plain are constrained and that current projections show declining availability in the near future. The findings put new attention on how the state reviews large water withdrawals, including those associated with future data-center projects.

The study was required by Senate Joint Resolution 25 and was due in January. It was released in late July, more than six months after the deadline. The delay became a transparency issue after the Associated Press reported that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality withheld the report in response to a public-records request before the governor’s office provided a copy.

What the study found

The report says groundwater withdrawals in the region fell sharply about 15 years ago after a paper mill closed. That reduction, along with regulatory efforts, helped water levels rise in the region’s largest aquifer. Those gains have since stalled, and the study projects that levels will resume declining.

Its central warning is that a large new industrial groundwater user may not be sustainable under current conditions. The report attributes the projected pressure to population growth and industrial use. It does not establish that data centers caused the aquifer’s decline.

Data centers remain part of the policy debate because the industry uses water for cooling and continues to expand in Virginia. The report says most existing and planned data-center capacity is located in public-water-service areas that mostly rely on surface water. It also says comprehensive public data on groundwater withdrawals by data centers is not available.

The study separately examined a hypothetical facility using evaporative cooling or a comparable water-intensive process. Under current conditions, the report said, such a user would be unlikely to find a reliable and sufficient groundwater supply anywhere in the Eastern Virginia region.

What the state regulates now

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality currently issues groundwater-withdrawal permits in designated groundwater-management areas, including the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area. Under the DEQ Ground Water Withdrawal Program, permits generally apply to withdrawals greater than or equal to 300,000 gallons per month, subject to exclusions in state regulations.

The study itself does not change that threshold, cancel existing permits or impose new requirements on data centers. Any such changes would require action through the General Assembly, new regulations or both.

What could change next

The report recommends giving regulators more authority to reject or condition industrial withdrawal permits. It also calls for applicants to examine surface-water and water-reuse alternatives, stronger local water planning, and additional funding for monitoring, enforcement, staffing and equipment.

Those recommendations could affect how local governments, utilities and developers plan future industrial growth in Eastern Virginia. They could also make water-supply analysis a more important part of data-center proposals and other large projects.

For residents, the immediate issue is not an automatic change to household water service. The next concrete signals will be the governor’s response, proposals in the General Assembly, DEQ guidance, meetings of the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Advisory Committee and decisions on new withdrawal permits. The broader question is whether Virginia treats the study as a warning for future planning or as the basis for enforceable limits.

Sources

• Associated Press report on the delayed study
• U.S. Geological Survey Virginia Coastal Plain groundwater report
• Virginia DEQ Ground Water Withdrawal Program