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Harmony sets water-use trigger for data centers at 50,000 gallons/month
Summary
Joint planning bodies agreed that if a data center uses more than 50,000 gallons of water in a month for three consecutive months, City staff will open a review to request information and ensure compliance; the draft ordinance already prohibits water-based cooling.
City officials and community members at Harmony's April 15 joint planning session agreed on a water-use monitoring trigger to guard against unauthorized water-intensive cooling systems.
Hurley reminded the group that the draft ordinance already prohibits water-based cooling for data centers and that staff reviewed local water-usage baselines. The assembled participants reached consensus that "if a data center exceeds 50,000 gallons of water usage per month for three consecutive months, this would trigger a review by the City." That review will allow staff to request additional information from the operator and confirm compliance with ordinance limits.
The trigger is a monitoring and enforcement mechanism, not an immediate penalty. The meeting notes show the City will rely on meter data and staff review processes to investigate unusual usage before pursuing enforcement or ordinance amendments.
