Amid statewide drought conditions, data centers face same restrictions as all water customers

Virginia, with one-third of the state under extreme drought conditions, has imposed water restrictions on data centers that use large volumes of water for cooling, treating them equally with other commercial, industrial, and residential users. The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) manages groundwater permits, and local authorities enforce restrictions based on drought stages, with no special exemptions for data centers. Henrico County's data centers are not among its top water users.