Champaign County task force hears water, cooling and disclosure risks as it drafts data‑center guidance

The Champaign County Data Center Task Force on June 8 heard expert briefings on how large data centers use water and electricity and agreed to consolidate comments into a running draft of standard conditions for future permits.

At the meeting residents voiced broad concerns about noise, light and air pollution and about large cooling water demands. Dana Seiden, a Champaign resident, told the task force the projects “are going to affect our hearing, stress, insomnia, and decrease quality of life” and warned that large facilities can strain farmland water supplies.

Experts from the Alliance for Water Efficiency, the Lincoln Institute/University of Illinois research team and the Champaign‑Urbana Sanitary District told the task force that local effects matter more than national averages. Joanna Dakota Smith, senior manager of programs at the Alliance for Water Efficiency, explained the distinction between direct water use (on‑site cooling and domestic uses) and indirect water use (water consumed at power plants that generate electricity for data centers) and emphasized that cooling technology choice, climate and operations determine local impacts. “Being involved early on and having regular involvement with data center developers and owners is key,” Smith said.

Researchers from the Lincoln Institute and University of Illinois presented state comparisons showing the same national share of water use can translate into concentrated local stress. Their analysis found that although data centers account for a small share of U.S. withdrawals overall, single facilities can represent a large fraction of local water demand during peak periods. The team recommended standardized disclosures including peak‑day withdrawals, consumptive versus non‑consumptive use and accounting for off‑site (indirect) water footprints tied to the power mix.

Rick Manor, executive director of the Champaign‑Urbana Sanitary District, told members that in the local climate cooling towers are commonly used for large heat loads and that wastewater reuse or chiller systems can nearly eliminate direct groundwater impacts. Manor said one to four small‑to‑midsize data centers (hundreds of thousands to under 1 million gallons per day) would likely be manageable under current conditions, but that mega‑scale projects require detailed review and contingency planning.

Task force members asked for stronger permit language requiring applicants to specify the cooling loops in their designs rather than saying only that a system is “closed‑loop.” Staff circulated an example special‑use permit excerpt and asked members to comment on a locked running document that will collect standard conditions and suggested edits ahead of a planned energy‑focused meeting on June 22.

The task force did not take a formal regulatory vote at the June 8 meeting; members committed to drafting recommendations for the county’s environmental and land‑use committee and to incorporating public and technical comments into the next draft.