Colorado River faces unprecedented crisis

The Colorado River supplies 40 million people across nine states and Mexico, but has endured 26 years of unprecedented drought. Overuse and climate change have forced steep water cuts on Arizona, Nevada, and California.

Amazon pledges $20 million to help

Amazon announced a Colorado River Basin Collaborative with a goal of raising $100 million over two years for water conservation. The company is also joining the Water Resilience Coalition alongside Microsoft and Meta.

Data centers are thirsty for water

AI data centers used between 312.5 and 764.6 billion liters of water in 2025, roughly equal to global bottled water consumption. Tech companies face growing resistance to new data center projects in water-stressed regions.

Amazon discloses limited water data

Amazon revealed its data centers used 2.5 billion gallons of water globally in 2025. The company claims 52 percent efficiency improvement since 2021 and says it uses 0.12 liters per kilowatt-hour, seven times better than industry average.

Efficiency gains can mask overconsumption

Experts warn that efficiency metrics alone don't tell the full story. Jevons paradox suggests that as technology becomes more efficient, companies use it more, potentially consuming more resources overall.

Amazon excludes electricity water use

A 2025 Guardian investigation found Amazon excluded water needed to generate electricity from its sustainability calculations. Power plants require massive amounts of water for cooling and steam generation.

Hidden water use totals billions

According to a leaked internal document cited by the Guardian, Amazon used 10.5 billion gallons of water in 2021 when including electricity generation. That equals the consumption of 95,000 US households.

Amazon disputes the leaked numbers

Amazon's sustainability officer called the Guardian report misleading, saying it relied on outdated cherry-picked data. She did not provide updated figures on total water use but noted the company is 75 percent toward its water positive goal.

“relied on cherry-picked data from an outdated document that misrepresents our water strategy”

Competitors disclose more information

Microsoft reports total data center water use since 2020, while Google breaks down water use by location since 2021. Amazon only shares efficiency metrics, not total consumption figures.

Amazon's carbon footprint still growing

Despite sustainability pledges, Amazon's carbon footprint grew 16 percent in 2025, a trend across the tech industry as companies race to advance AI capabilities.

The transparency gap remains

Amazon's Colorado River initiative shows good intentions, but the company still refuses to disclose total water consumption. Without complete data, it's impossible to assess whether conservation efforts match the scale of the problem.