← Back to all diffs
NPR

Worries over water as a giant data center moves into the New Mexico desert

View original article →
+2107 words added -1712 words removed
− Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
+ By John Burnett The building site for the Project Jupiter data center in Doña Ana County, New Mexico STACK Infrastructure/Oracle hide caption SANTA TERESA, N.M.
− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Worries over water as a giant data center moves into the New Mexico desert A county in the New Mexico borderlands desperate for economic development has OK'd one of the country's biggest data centers, with its own gas-fired electricity plant.
+ - One of the largest data centers in the country is rising from the parched scrub desert of southern New Mexico.
− There's now some buyer's remorse.
+ Most county officials are agog at the jobs and investment this high tech mega-project has promised to bring.
− National Worries over water as a giant data center moves into the New Mexico desert June 14, 20268:26 AM ET Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday By John Burnett Worries over water as a giant data center moves into the New Mexico desert Listen &middot; 7:04 7:04 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5786551/nx-s1-9809888" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript A county in the New Mexico borderlands desperate for economic development has OK'd one of the country's biggest data centers, with its own gas-fired electricity plant.
+ But many locals are asking: can chile and pecan farming co-exist with Project Jupiter? The scale of the project befuddles the brain. At 1,400 acres, it could swallow New York's Central Park.
− There's now some buyer's remorse.
+ With two-and-a-half gigawatts of electricity, it could power more than half of New Mexico.
− Sponsor Message DAVID FOLKENFLIK, HOST: One of the largest data centers in the country is rising from the scrub desert of southern New Mexico.
+ And $165 billion in investment capital—if developers reach that goal—could pick up the tab for 40 Artemis moon shots. Yes, these clever comparisons were suggested by artificial intelligence—which is powered by data centers like Project Jupiter.
− Most of the officials in Dona Ana County are agog at the jobs and the investment the megaproject has promised to bring. But many locals are asking, can chile and pecan farming coexist with Project Jupiter? John Burnett reports.
+ But as they might say down in Doña Ana County: you can't water pecans with data.
− JOHN BURNETT, BYLINE: The scale of Project Jupiter befuddles the brain.
+ Here & Now Anytime Drought fears spur big fight over Utah data center "I have a little plot of land out here, grow some pecans," says Eddie Estrada, a weekend farmer who works at the state capital.
− At 1,400 acres, it could swallow New York's Central Park.
+ "I had 28 trees, but due to the water shortage many of them died." Today, the lower Rio Grande is a river of sand most of the year.
− The nearly 2 1/2 gigawatts of electricity it plans to generate could power more than half of New Mexico.
+ Blame a searing drought, low snowpack, and climate change.
− And if they reach $165 billion in investment capital, that's enough for 40 Artemis moon shots.
+ Estrada's water deliveries from the river have dried up, and he has to keep drilling his well deeper as the water table drops.
− Where did these clever comparisons come from?
+ Project Jupiter is six miles from his property near the New Mexico - Texas border.
− AI, of course. But as they might say down in Dona Ana County, you can't water pecans with data.
+ And he's well aware that data centers typically require large volumes of water to cool their server farms that run 24/7.
− EDDIE ESTRADA: I have a little plot of land out here.
+ "Being that we're in a drought, and then to allow a project like this to use that much water," Estrada says, "the fear is that we're going to run out, not only for us that live here but the farmers." Project Jupiter's tenants will be global tech giants Oracle and OpenAI.
− Grow some pecans.
+ What sets Jupiter apart from most of the 3,000 new data centers being planned or built in the US is its gargantuan size, the fact that it will generate its own electricity, and its remote location— smack-dab in the Chihuahuan desert, says Ahmed Saeed, a data center expert at Georgia Institute of Technology.
− BURNETT: Eddie Estrada raises pecans, pistachios and sheep when he's not at his job at the state capitol.
+ "It's bizarre to me why that site was selected," Saeed says.
− E ESTRADA: Well, I had 28 trees, but due to the water shortage, many of them died. BURNETT: Today, the Lower Rio Grande is a river of sand most of the year.
+ The Rio Grande is a river of sand most of the year in southern New Mexico.
− A searing drought, low snowpack and climate change mean that Estrada has to keep drilling his well deeper as the water table drops.
+ Here, kids fly kites in the dry riverbed in May.
− Data centers typically require a lot of water to cool their server farms around the clock, and Project Jupiter is six miles from his property near the New Mexico-Texas border.
+ John Burnett hide caption To allay fears of being a water hog, Jupiter has purchased existing water rights from a sod farm, located just west of Sunland Park, New Mexico, for the millions of gallons needed to cool the acres of hard drives and routers. (Look for the sod farm's three irrigated green circles on this Google Map) New Mexico State Engineer Elizabeth Anderson—the state's official groundwater cop—says she is confident the huge new customer will not over-pump groundwater.
− E ESTRADA: But being that we're in drought and then to allow a project like this to use that much water, the fear is that we're going to run out.
+ "What's happening with Project Jupiter is they're just taking a water right that exists," she says, "and using it for something else, having a data center.
− And not only for us that live here, but the farmers.
+ And it's not gonna be taking water away from farmers." And yet, no one is certain how much water the hyperscale data center will need because the numbers keep changing.
− BURNETT: Project Jupiter's tenants will be global tech giants Oracle and OpenAI.
+ After a report in the Santa Fe New Mexican earlier this year that the project would need a million gallons a day, the developers changed course.
− What sets it apart from most of the 3,000 new data centers being planned or built in the U.S.
+ Oracle announced a switch from water-intensive natural-gas turbines as their source of electricity to fuel cells, which use far less water and have lower emissions.
− is its gargantuan size, the fact that it will generate its own electricity, and its remote location smack dab in the Chihuahuan Desert.
+ Now, Oracle is saying the data center and fuel cell system together will use about 11 million gallons of non-potable water that will be recycled in closed-loop systems. But lots of folks remain skeptical, chiefly because of the way the venture—the biggest in state history—was presented by the Doña Ana Board of County Commissioners. "I, like so many of the constituents I represent, were very surprised to see that our county commission here in Doña Ana was taking a $165 billion vote on a proposal that we knew about for less than a month," says State Rep.
− With neighbors souring on data centers across the U.S., Jupiter has mounted a charm offensive.
+ Micaela Lara Cadena (D-Las Cruces) who attended the rowdy public meeting last September.
− (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: Have you seen what's happening in Dona Ana County?
+ State Rep.
− Project Jupiter's a better kind of data center.
+ Micaela Lara Cadena, an outspoken opponent of Project Jupiter in the state legislature, says this is not the time to green-light a massive new water user in drought-stricken Dona Ana County John Burnett hide caption The commissioners were voting on whether to issue $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds for Project Jupiter. Industrial revenue bonds are a common economic development tool that give a tax abatement to new industry but don't put the county into debt. The companies sell their own bonds and do their own financing.
− BURNETT: Jupiter's developers say they've bought existing water rights to cool its acres of hard drives and routers.
+ Cadena says attendees asked the county commission to delay the vote by at least by a month. "Give us more time to get some answers to these really critical questions," she says.
− New Mexico state engineer Elizabeth Anderson says it will not be a water hog.
+ "They (Jupiter) said, 'If you don't vote 'yes' today we're going somewhere else.' And our county commission bowed to that pressure." When four of the five commissioners voted yes, people in the audience erupted, angrily shouting, "Recall!" which can be heard on this recording.
− ELIZABETH ANDERSON: What's happening with Project Jupiter is they're just taking a water right that exists and using it for something else - having a data center.
+ Today, nine months later, popular resistance to Project Jupiter seems to have grown.
− And it's not going to be taking water away from farmers.
+ Susana Chaparro is the lone commissioner who voted "no." She's still seeking answers.
− BURNETT: No one is sure how much groundwater the hyperscale data center will need.
+ How much water will they actually use?
− The numbers keep changing.
+ How big will the permanent workforce be?
− One newspaper report said it would need a million gallons a day.
+ Will the AI bubble burst and leave the county with a giant empty warehouse? "Most of us got excited about this huge data center coming in with all this money that was going to be thrown around without really thinking: what is it going to look like in one year?" she says, over a plate of tostadas compuestas with red chile at her unofficial office, a booth at Nopalito Cafe in Las Cruces.
− Then Oracle announced a switch from natural gas turbines to fuel cells.
+ "What is it gonna look like in three, five, 20, 30 years?
− They use far less water and have lower emissions.
+ I don't think that was thought out." National Data centers are expensive, unpopular — and could be a tipping point in the midterms Just then, a woman sitting in the booth behind us, who had overheard the interview, stands up and chimes in.
− Now Oracle says the data center and fuel cells together will use about 11 million gallons of non-potable water, which will be recycled.
+ She gives her name as Ruby Estrada and says she's an environmental consultant. "This is a desert and not a lot of water comes our way," she says.
− But lots of folks remain skeptical, chiefly because of the way the venture - the biggest in state history - was presented by the Dona Ana County Commissioners last fall.
+ "So the idea of a data center is just kind of wild, and it really makes me think that people are not listening to the land itself." Doña Ana County, in fact, needs investment, with low incomes, high unemployment, and one in four children experiencing poverty.
− State representative Micaela Lara Cadena, whose district is in the county, attended that meeting.
+ What's more, the county has 40 informal settlements known as colonias along the border that need paved roads, sewers and public transportation.
− MICAELA LARA CADENA: I, like so many of the constituents I represent, were very surprised to see that our county commission here in Dona Ana was taking a $165 billion vote on a proposal that we knew about for less than a month.
+ Jupiter is promising to create hundreds of high tech jobs. And in lieu of paying property taxes—which would be in the billions—the developers have pledged $360 million for schools and local infrastructure, $50 million for an upgrade to the decrepit local water utility, and $12 million annually to the county budget.
− BURNETT: The commissioners were voting on whether to issue industrial revenue bonds that would save the project billions in local property taxes. CADENA: At least delay this vote by a month.
+ "We've never had that type of money here in Doña Ana County," says Manny Sanchez, chairman of the county commission.
− Give us more time to get some answers to these really critical questions.
+ "And we've always tried to find these types of high-paying jobs for our residents." He thinks the data center will be "transformative." Davin Lopez, president of the local economic development alliance, points to the location of the hyper-scale data center near the New Mexico-Mexico border.
− They said, if you don't vote yes today, we're going somewhere else.
+ "This is by far larger than anything we've ever seen," he says.
− And our county commission bowed to that pressure. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Commissioner Gameros? GLORIA GAMEROS: Yes. BURNETT: One by one, four of the five commissioners voted yes. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED COMMISSIONER: Yes. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Sellout. UNIDENTIFIED COMMISSIONER: The motion does carry. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Recall. UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Recall.
+ John Burnett hide caption "This isn't by any means gonna completely, like, fund us for everything, Sanchez says.
− Recall. Recall.
+ "But it's going to allow us to be able to start doing more for our residents in ways that we have never done before." Davin Lopez, CEO of the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance, is also giddy: "This is by far larger than anything we've ever seen." He says their computer program that measures economic impact only goes up to nine figures.
− BURNETT: Then all hell broke loose.
+ "We are actually upgrading our software that we subscribe to for impact analysis because it doesn't go up to the billions!" he says.
− (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Recall.
+ There's a new twist to the Project Jupiter saga.
− UNIDENTIFIED COMMISSIONER: Thank you. UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Do recall. BURNETT: Today, nine months later, popular resistance to Project Jupiter seems to have grown.
+ Last month, the US Supreme Court approved a sweeping interstate water compact that will take away water rights along the lower Rio Grande.
− The lone commissioner who voted no is Susana Chaparro.
+ The settlement will require New Mexico to buy out current water users and retire 9,200 acres of irrigated farmland over the next decade.
− We talk over tostadas compuestas at her unofficial office - a booth at Nopalito Cafe.
+ That is expected to leave more water in the Rio Grande for Texas, which brought the lawsuit.
− (LAUGHTER) BURNETT: Chapparo is still seeking answers.
+ The Center for Biological Diversity opposes Jupiter's plans to draw groundwater from the lower Rio Grande basin.
− How much water will they actually use?
+ The Tucson-based nonprofit has submitted a protest letter to the State Engineer's office, warning that the project puts New Mexico "at greater risk of violating the Rio Grande Compact." The Center's Santa Fe-based attorney, Colin Cox, points out that the sod farm has not been using all of its allotted water rights—2,400 acre-feet per year.
− How big will the permanent workforce be?
+ (An acre-foot is enough water to cover an acre of land a foot deep.) "Will that water even be there" when Jupiter needs it?
− And will the AI bubble burst and leave the county with a giant empty warehouse?
+ Cox asks, "or is it just water on paper?" In a Project Jupiter fact sheet, developers contend that its total water use will remain "below historic levels" of the sod farm.
− SUSANA CHAPARRO: Most of us got excited about this huge data center coming in with all this money that was going to be thrown around without really thinking, what is it going to look like in one year, what is it gonna look like in three, five, 20, 30 years? I don't think that was thought out.
+ On a warm afternoon in early May, a father and his two sons were flying a kite on the dune-like riverbed of the Rio Grande—a stark snapshot of the ongoing drought.
− BURNETT: Just then, a woman sitting in the booth behind us, who'd overheard our interview, stands up and chimes in. She gives her name as Ruby Estrada and says she's an environmental consultant.
+ Eusebio Ingol Blanco, a water resources engineer and assistant professor at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, sits at a picnic table overlooking the once-wet river.
− RUBY ESTRADA: Well, this is a desert, and not a lot of water comes our way. So the idea of a data center is just kind of wild, and it really makes me think that people are not listening to the land itself.
+ The Rio Grande is the major source of replenishment for the already overtaxed aquifer in the region.
− BURNETT: Dona Ana County does need investment with low incomes, high unemployment and 1 in 4 children experiencing poverty.
+ "The river is dry there," he says, pointing to the sandy bottom.
− What's more, 40 colonias along the border need paved roads, sewers and public transportation.
+ "For that reason, groundwater levels reduce—more than one or two feet per year." Rep.
− Project Jupiter is promising to create hundreds of high-tech jobs, and in lieu of taxes, the developers have pledged $410 million for schools and local infrastructure and $12 million annually to the county budget.
+ Micaela Lara Cadena, the leading opponent of Project Jupiter in the Democrat-controlled New Mexico legislature, is not placated by assurances from the state engineer that there's enough groundwater for the data center.
− MANNY SANCHEZ: We've never had that type of money here in Dona Ana County. BURNETT: Manny Sanchez, chairman of the county commission, thinks the data center will be transformative. SANCHEZ: This isn't, by any means, going to completely, like, fund us for everything, but it's going to allow us to be able to start doing more for our residents in ways that we have never done before. BURNETT: There's a new twist to the Project Jupiter saga.
+ "Water policymakers like me are figuring out how to retire farmland to give us a future," she says, "and then we're turning around and putting water to a new use—massive amounts of water in hyper-scaled AI data centers." Edward Ogaz, president of the New Mexico Chile Association, says "everyone has a straw" in the aquifer in southern New Mexico, but he thinks the county needs Project Jupiter's investment and he's not worried that it will be a water hog.
− Last month, the U.S.
+ John Burnett hide caption In nearby Chamberino, New Mexico, located between Las Cruces and El Paso, Texas, it's planting season at Seco Spice, a wholesale chile company.
− Supreme Court approved a sweeping settlement that requires New Mexico to buy up water rights and retire 9,200 acres of irrigated farmland.
+ Owner Edward Ogaz grows 500 acres of New Mexico green chiles, ancho, cayenne, habanero, and paprika and sells to outfits like Taco Bell and Trader Joe's.
− That will leave more water in the Lower Rio Grande for Texas, which sued. So is this the right time to welcome a major new water user? Edward Ogaz grows 500 acres of chiles down here and is president of the New Mexico Chile Association.
+ He is also president of the New Mexico Chile Association.
− EDWARD OGAZ: I've got to say, it's not going to really affect us in the long run.
+ One morning last month, Ogaz walked along the furrows behind a machine pulled by a tractor that is jabbing scorpion peppers into the loamy earth.
− And if they've done their permitting process, I think it works. I think it's good for Dona Ana County.
+ Ogaz, too, worries about the future of water he relies on to flood his fields.
− BURNETT: But another big grower, who asked that we not use his name, told me, we're taking land out of production, yet we can give them all the water they want?
+ "Everyone has a straw in the drink, being the basin that runs up and down this valley," he says.
− I have a hard time with that.
+ "If you don't have water, all you have is dirt." But he believes Project Jupiter's promise that they won't use more water than the sod farm is allotted, and won't affect neighboring farmers.
− For NPR News, I'm John Burnett in southern New Mexico.
+ "I've got to say it's not really going to affect us in the long run," Ogaz says.
− Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR.
+ "And if they've done their permitting process, I think it works.
− All rights reserved.
+ I think it's good for Doña Ana County.
− Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
+ I think it's a great economic boost." Despite his support, he thinks the way the county hurriedly presented Project Jupiter to the public was "a fiasco," and if the data center's grand plans do not come to fruition, "then shame on us, shame on the state and the permitting people that allowed this to go through." While the handwringing continues, construction races forward at the worksite two miles north of the Mexican border.
− Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary.
+ Earthmovers and concrete trucks are building what looks like a small city.
− Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{309:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(81)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(770),o(154),o(175),o(93),o(448),o(253),o(128),o(130),o(755),o(174),o(756),o(254),o(77),o(774)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},783:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(309)}},[[783,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();
+ An Oracle official says if construction proceeds as planned, they expect to power up the computers by the end of this year. Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor