Committee: Sabey data center would use a tiny share of Silver Lake industrial water

Summary

Presenters told Butte‑Silver Bow’s ad hoc committee that the proposed Sabey data center would average roughly 16 million gallons a year (about 44,000 gallons a day), or about 0.2% of the industrial Silver Lake system’s sustainable capacity; staff said the industrial and potable systems are separate and potable supplies would not be affected.

Butte‑Silver Bow officials were told the Sabey data center’s planned cooling system would draw a small fraction of capacity from the Silver Lake (industrial) water system, and that the county’s potable supply would not be affected.

Jim Keenan, water plant superintendent for the city and county of Butte‑Silver Bow, and consultant/analyst Bob Morris presented maps, water‑rights summaries and recent consumption trends to the ad hoc committee. Keenan stressed that "the Silver Lake water system and the potable drinking water system are 2 separate independent systems." Morris summarized the arithmetic: the industrial system’s sustainable average capacity is roughly 25,000,000 gallons per day; last year industrial users collectively put about 2,500,000 gpd into the pipeline; Sabey’s projected use was presented as about…

Committee: Sabey data center would use a tiny share of Silver Lake industrial water

Summary

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