MEIC warns data centers could strain Montana water supplies, calls for metering and disclosure

Caroline Kanerys, land and water policy advocate for the Montana Environmental Information Center, told attendees that data centers raise serious questions about where large volumes of water will come from and what will be discharged.

"So we need monthly and peak demand disclosure limitations," Kanerys said, arguing that the state’s permitting system currently lacks a data-center classification and routine metering that would enable public oversight. She urged requiring metering and pollutant identification prior to project approval so communities can weigh trade-offs.

Kanerys described exempt wells — a statutory category created for small rural uses that is now being used by subdivisions and developers — as a loophole that avoids public scrutiny and monitoring. She said exempt-well uses can drain aquifers, leave senior water-rights holders without recourse and in some basins make new rights impossible.

She said MEIC has joined conservation, town and agricultural groups in a litigation coalition seeking judicial clarity and will pursue legislative fixes to require metering, monitoring, mitigation plans and mitigation funding when private water rights or municipal systems will be stressed.