Comment by myrmidon
> Putting a price on it does not solve it because the entities that compete for the water with the data centers are out-matched financially.
I don't think this argument works at all, because bigger datacenter operator does NOT mean "tolerates higher OPEX".
> How is a city [...] supposed to pay more for water than a multi-billion dollar company?
I do not understand this; the city would not compete with the datacenter operator for water-- the farmers would, and both of those would be paying the municipality for the water (ideally), not vice-versa. Residential users already pay much more for water (typically, compared to farming/industry) so any renegotiation is unlikely to affect them much.
Cities in my area have to buy their water. The sources of water are limited and finite. Data centers also buy it from the same sources.
I'm lost. How is a bigger business unable to tolerate higher opex in a space that is famous for economies of scale?