The UK government's AI superpower ambitions largely overlook the significant water demands of datacenters, raising concerns that these facilities could compete with homes and businesses for an already strained water supply. Water UK warns that official water planning forecasts exclude datacenters entirely, limiting investment in new infrastructure such as reservoirs, while some areas like East Anglia already face effective moratoriums on business expansion due to water scarcity. The industry body is calling for datacenters to be included in water planning frameworks, fast-tracked supply infrastructure, minimum efficiency standards, and requirements for operators to fund the water infrastructure their facilities require.
