research publication

Ceres releases Water Behind the Watts on data-centre indirect water dependency

Ceres' dated 24 August 2026 news release says Water Behind the Watts was released that day; the dedicated report landing page is dated 25 August. Its public summary estimates ~3.4 trillion US gallons per year of upstream electricity-generation freshwater dependency for data centres across VA, TX, CA, IL, GA, OH, AZ. This is not direct cooling usage, not solely AI, and not established net consumptive water depletion. Full gated PDF/methods were not reviewed.