Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are building water-guzzling data centers in Chile. Local residents and activists are pushing back.

Multiple groups are working to keep Amazon, Google, and Microsoft from doubling the number of centers in the country, fearing environmental devastation.

Activists say the data centers’ high water consumption puts the Quilicura wetlands, already affected by an ongoing drought, at risk.

Over the past 12 years, 16 data centers have been approved in Santiago’s metropolitan area. Most use millions of liters of water annually to keep computers from overheating.
Chile is in the midst of a drought, expected to last until 2040.
The government has said it will launch a national data center plan to regulate the industry.