Goodyear’s Microsoft using AI to address water shortage, usage up 23%

Microsoft attributes generative AI for a 23% increase in water usage and plans to use AI tools to detect and address water supply shortfalls in Arizona and the Colorado River Basin, according a May 15 sustainability report.

In its recently released 2024 Sustainability Report, Microsoft claimed its emissions increased 29%, and water use increased 23%.

According to the report, "new technologies, including generative AI,” were the reasons behind this increase.

Microsoft, a stakeholder in the region with a datacenter in Goodyear, also stated they plan to address solutions to water shortages in Arizona and the Colorado River Basin.

“We are developing innovative scalable replenishment projects in high water stress locations where we operate data centers,” Microsoft wrote. “We recently announced Water United, a new initiative to unite public and private sectors in reducing water loss from leakage across the Colorado River Basin.”

Colorado River Basin area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (U.S. Department of the Interior)

Microsoft also claimed it partnered with FIDO Tech in an initiative to reduce water loss from leaks through projects in Phoenix's aging water distribution networks.

Microsoft said the project will use AI-enabled acoustic leak analysis to identify and track leaks within networks. According to Microsoft, local water utilities will conduct repairs upon notification.

AI-linked water volume increases could be on the rise.

Microsoft recently invested more than $10 billion with its partner OpenAI to acquire the right to use AI to train its new AI model, with the intent of competing with Google and OpenAI.

The AI training and supercomputing will reportedly require vast amounts of energy, according to reports.

Goodyear’s Microsoft AI-intensive data center received national attention in The Atlantic in March after the publisher claimed that once fully built out, it may use 56 million gallons of water a year, but the city and state can never disclose the amount.

In 2023, the Goodyear City Council approved an amendment to allow Microsoft to use 1.2 million gallons of water per day at the plant at full build-out, according to city documents and reports.

In its 2022 environmental report, Microsoft stated the company consumed 6.4 million cubic meters of water, up 36% from 4.7 million the previous year.