Amazon Discloses 2.5 Billion Gallons Used by Data Centers in 2025 — Water Use Down 2%

Amazon disclosed that its global network of data centers consumed about 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025, with most of that volume used for cooling the servers that power its facilities.

In a statement released June 10 and reported by The Wall Street Journal, the company said water use fell roughly 2% from the prior year even as it continued to expand its infrastructure. Amazon attributed the decline to improvements in cooling efficiency and an operational approach that relies on water-based cooling primarily during hotter months rather than year-round.

Documents reviewed by Bloomberg in November 2025 indicate Amazon operated more than 900 data centers across more than 50 countries, highlighting the scale of the company’s footprint even as it reduces water intensity in some locations.

Rising Calls For Transparency

The disclosure comes amid growing public and regulatory pressure for clearer reporting on data center water use. In Oregon, the city of The Dalles agreed to release records detailing municipal water supplied to Google’s data centers after a lengthy legal dispute, according to Bloomberg. Utah recently passed what is believed to be the first U.S. law requiring certain new data center developments to publicly disclose their annual water consumption.

“We need more transparency,” said Iris Stewart-Frey, a professor of environmental science at Santa Clara University and lead author of a report on California’s data center water use. “Then communities will actually know what they're getting into and can evaluate the costs and benefits, because the situation is very different from locality to locality.”

Kerry Person, a vice president at Amazon Web Services who oversees data center operations, said the newly released figures offer context that is often missing from headlines: “If you look at the press right now, the data center industry is apparently consuming all of the water in the world. When you actually look at the data and look at the details, nothing could be further from the truth,” Person told Bloomberg.

Public sentiment is mixed. A six-day national poll that concluded June 8 found one in three Americans approve of data center construction in general, yet only 14% of 4,531 respondents said they would be comfortable with a center being built near them, Reuters reported. The results underscore the local concerns communities have about water, land use and other impacts tied to hyperscale facilities.

Amazon’s disclosure adds to a broader industry conversation about balancing technology growth with local water resources. Experts and community leaders say standardized, public reporting will help localities better evaluate the trade-offs of new data center projects and plan accordingly.