WRI Aqueduct
World Resources Institute water risk mapping platform that provides per-location water stress scores used to assess data centre siting risk.
Last refreshed: 6 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for WRI Aqueduct
Mentioned in: Lake Anna hearing, no PFAS test
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashMentioned in: Google prices its water ahead of rules
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashMentioned in: Amazon discharge nears Lake Anna vote
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashMentioned in: Where the next data centres should go
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashMentioned in: Microsoft Mount Pleasant: 8M gallons via lawsuit
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashWhat is WRI Aqueduct and how is it used for data centres?
Is the Phoenix metro area running out of water for data centres?
How do data centre operators check water stress at a new site?
Background
WRI Aqueduct is an online water-risk mapping tool published by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a Washington DC-based environmental research organisation. Aqueduct maps global water stress, flood risk, and drought risk at watershed level, and is widely used by data centre site selectors, ESG analysts, and regulators to assess the water risk profile of specific locations.
In the context of the data centre debate, Aqueduct data is cited in discussions about the sustainability of water-cooled facilities in regions such as the Chihuahuan Desert (Meta El Paso), the Ebro basin (Amazon Aragón), and the western US. The tool provides a standardised independent assessment that operators, investors, and regulators can use to cross-check corporate water sustainability claims against hydrological reality.