REGIONAL- The Great Lakes region is facing an unprecedented water crisis as three rapidly expanding industries — data centers, mining, and agricultural irrigation — converge on the world’s largest freshwater system, according to a new report from the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
The report, titled “A Finite Resource,” looks at the mounting pressure on the Great Lakes’ groundwater supplies, which provide drinking water to 40 million people across eight states and two Canadian provinces.

Data centers need water
The report reveals that hyperscale data centers – the massive facilities powering AI and digital services – can consume between 1 and 5 million gallons of water daily for cooling systems.
Hyperscale data centers are projected to withdraw as much as 150.4 billion gallons of water over the next five years, equivalent to what 4.6 million American households use in that time, according to the report. A single large data center using 365 million gallons annually equals the water consumption of roughly 12,000 Americans.
“Industries like data centers and semiconductor chip manufacturing are choosing to locate in the Great Lakes region, in part because of its water resources along with state laws and tax incentives that encourage investment but don’t consider limited water resources. The region is simply not prepared to manage the competing and overlapping demands that may soon lead to more conflict over water resources,” said Helena Volzer, Alliance for the Great Lakes Senior Source Water Policy Manager and author of the report.

Mining industry adds pressure
The transition to clean energy is also driving unprecedented demand for critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and copper, all requiring large amounts of water to extract. The demand for nickel, cobalt, and graphite is expected to grow by about 20 times, according to the report, while lithium demand is expected to grow to 40 times its current level to meet climate goals.
The Great Lakes region is rich in these minerals, and in 2015, the mining industry withdrew four billion gallons per day, equivalent to one percent of all withdrawals, with groundwater providing 72 percent of that withdrawal.

Agriculture’s growing thirst
Climate change is forcing agriculture in some parts of the region to increasingly rely on irrigation. In 2023, Wisconsin agricultural producers withdrew nearly 125 billion gallons of groundwater, with the majority of the withdrawal occurring between June and August. The report notes that regions like northwest Ohio, where irrigation was historically unnecessary, are now seeing rapid expansion of water-intensive farming practices.

Warning signs already emerging
The consequences of over-extraction are already visible. Major cities in the Great Lakes region — Detroit, Indianapolis, Columbus, and Chicago — are all sinking at a rate of 2mm or more annually due to groundwater depletion. In some areas, conflicts over water resources have already erupted, with wells running dry and aquifers becoming contaminated, the report says.

Legal framework under strain
The region operates under the Great Lakes Compact, a 2008 agreement designed to prevent large-scale diversions of Great Lakes water outside the basin. However, the report argues that current state laws are inadequate for managing the new wave of high-consumption industries.
“The use of nondisclosure agreements, lack of water use reporting requirements, and gaps in existing state water management laws all pose challenges for states and local governments in both resource management and economic development,” the report states.

Calls for action
The Alliance for the Great Lakes calls for conducting regional water demand studies as part of ongoing conservation programs and incorporating public transparency measures, including disclosure and water use reporting requirements. The organization also advocates for expanding existing water use registration and consumptive use permitting requirements, while pushing for better funding of groundwater mapping and revised state groundwater laws to address existing gaps. Additionally, they recommend setting energy and water conservation standards for large-scale water users.
“The Compact is a solid foundation and cooperative agreement on which these solutions can build to ensure that our most precious freshwater resource, the Great Lakes, are protected and continue to be available for generations to come,” the report says.