It’s Not in the Cloud
2025 Choose Clean Water Coalition Annual Report
Right in the heart of the Chesapeake Bay watershed lies the world’s largest concentration of data centers. These facilities are voracious consumers of land, water, and energy, with severe impacts to our work for clean water and healthy communities. And while northern Virginia is the epicenter of data centers worldwide, the projected demand for artificial intelligence computing and directives from state and federal agencies is pushing data centers to more communities throughout the Bay region.
With the growing threat of data centers, we used our annual Choose Clean Water Conference “Kickoff” as a forum for education and discussion for members, advocates, experts, and policymakers. Gathering in Harrisonburg, Virginia and with the support from Coalition members Nature Forward, National Parks Conservation Association, and The Piedmont Environmental Council, the 2025 Conference Kickoff put the spotlight on data centers. Titled “It’s Not in the Cloud: Confronting the Rise of Data Centers in the Chesapeake Bay Region,” the event informed attendees of the threats posed by the spread of data centers as well as actions we can take to stem their unchecked expansion. More than 100 participants from our 320 member organizations attended plus policy makers and expert presenters. Our data center presentations and breakout group activities were one of the highest rated portions of our conference and a great indicator of what we can accomplish when working collectively.
The discussions at the Kickoff and throughout this year revealed a significant challenge in our work on data centers. Helping lead this effort is Chris Miller, President of the Piedmont Environmental Council and long-time member of the Coalition’s Steering Committee. Says Miller, “Despite the scale of the problem, there is a lack of awareness and understanding of the data center industry’s impact on water resources, climate, and environmental health among both policymakers and the public. By compiling resources and gathering leaders in their own communities, the Coalition supports the regional exchange of information to address the unique challenges presented by the rapid expansion of data centers.”
“Hyperscale data centers are one of the most significant threats to clean water in our time. With almost every state in the Bay watershed contending with data center development, the Coalition’s regional leadership is needed now more than ever to advocate for development that protects the Chesapeake Bay.”
To support this work, and in response to increased concern on land use issues and water impacts, the Coalition voted to transition our policy priority area from Energy to Land Use. This broadening of our energy-focused work will help us to better serve the needs of our members by providing a landscape-level look at trends in land use across the region. The Land Use Workgroup will provide members with support and training in decision making, rulemaking, addressing community concerns, and other relevant topical issues.
Our overarching goal for our Land Use Workgroup is to protect water resources from the significant landscape level impacts of land use decisions and extractive practices to support climate resilient communities and restore ecological harmony across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
In the coming year we will work to defend, strengthen, and envision new federal, regional, or state policy mechanisms that support both land conservation and smart growth. Throughout, we will continue to defend against state and federal rulemaking that weakens clean water protections related to extractive practices, land use decision making, conservation, and development within the Bay region. And given current forecasts, it’s a safe bet that our work on data centers will persist.
Header photo by Hugh Kenny/The Piedmont Environmental Council