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Public commenter warns county about data-center water use and AI harms
Summary
A public commenter told the board that closed-loop data-center cooling systems can consume hundreds of thousands of gallons and raised concerns about AI-generated child abuse content and job losses tied to automation; commissioners asked follow-up technical questions.
During the public-comment period, a resident (Public commenter, S3) addressed the board about potential harms from data centers and artificial intelligence. The commenter asserted that closed-loop cooling systems can be water-intensive, saying they “on average [use] 350,000 to 700,000 gallons of water.” The comment urged the board to scrutinize how data-center cooling choices affect local water resources and chemical use.
The commenter also raised social harms tied to AI and online platforms, including allegations about synthetic child-abuse material circulating online and economic impacts from layoffs at major technology companies (the speaker cited alleged job-loss numbers for Google, Amazon and others). Committee member (S2) asked a technical follow-up about glycol, an antifreeze agent used in some closed-loop systems, and asked the speaker to help research the topic. The board did not record any formal action tied to the public comment.
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