Skip to content

Thursday, Jul. 3, 2025

Did the Pima County Board of Supervisors approve a land sale that could use millions of gallons of water per day?

Tallulah Anne, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
yes

In June 2025, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted, 3-2, to approve “Project Blue,” a $3.6 billion data center campus slated for construction southeast of Tucson. The 290-acre campus is expected to include multiple data centers, each requiring substantial amounts of water to cool servers and related equipment. 

While the proposal for the controversial project did not disclose daily water-usage estimates, studies show data centers can consume 2-5 million gallons per day. For comparison, the average U.S. household uses around 300 gallons per day. 

The developer behind Project Blue has pledged to transition to 100% renewable water sources over time, but it remains unclear how — or whether — that commitment would be enforced. The project has drawn public concern and skepticism, given ongoing drought conditions and the state’s already limited water supply.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.