In Australia, a data centre boom is built on vague water plans

Authorities in Sydney approved construction of data centres without requiring measurable plans to cut water use, raising concerns the sector's rapid growth will leave residents competing for the resource. The New South Wales state government, which presides over Australia's biggest city, green-lit all 10 data centre applications it has ruled on since expanding its planning powers in 2021, from owners like Microsoft, Amazon and Blackstone's AirTrunk, documents reviewed by Reuters show. The centres would bring in a total A$6.6 billion ($4.35 billion) of construction spending, but would ultimately use up to 9.6 gigalitres a year of clean water, or nearly 2% of Sydney's maximum supply, the documents show. Fewer than half the approved applications gave projections of how much water...