AI Is Thirsty. This Data Center Developer Thinks It Found A Fix
A Utah developer building what it says will be the world's largest data center campus is betting on an old scientific principle to tackle one of artificial intelligence's most pressing problems: water.
Paris Apodaca · Sep 9, 2026 · 5 min read
A Utah developer building what it says will be the world’s largest data center campus is betting on an old scientific principle to tackle one of artificial intelligence’s most pressing problems: water.
Creekstone Energy announced Wednesday that it is seeking to patent GIGAWATER, a technology the company says can capture water vapor produced by natural gas generation and turn it into usable water, according to the Utah News Dispatch.
The company has dubbed the novel water stewardship effort “Project Oasis.” Creekstone is developing Delta Gigasite in Millard County, Utah, where it plans more than 10 gigawatts of electrical capacity at full buildout, more than twice the electricity currently consumed by the entire state of Utah, per the Dispatch.
Creekstone Energy did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
The planned data center is set to use dry cooling and consume conventional water primarily for drinking and bathrooms, according to the Dispatch. If GIGAWATER performs as projected, the company says the campus would produce “vastly more” water than it consumes.
“We at Creekstone Energy, we don’t believe Utah should have to choose between economic growth and responsible water stewardship,” Creekstone founder and CEO Ray Conley told reporters during an embargoed briefing, the outlet reported.
The announcement comes as the AI data center boom increasingly collides with concerns over the industry’s voracious demand for electricity and water. Communities across the country have pushed back against proposed data centers over concerns ranging from increased utility bills to water and electricity demand.
Creekstone expects about 2.1 gigawatts of its planned power supply to come from natural gas, along with six gigawatts of solar and 1.8 gigawatts from the nearby Intermountain Power Project, per the Dispatch.
The developer also projects GIGAWATER could recover approximately 4,000 acre-feet of water per year from its natural gas generation — roughly 1.3 billion gallons — according to the outlet.