Cases / Data centre · Chile · 2024
Quilicura data centres draw about 1.5 billion litres a year; wetland largely dried
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Data centres in Quilicura, Chile, draw about 1.5 billion litres of water a year, TechSpot reported. The 468-hectare wetland there has largely dried, the report says.
What?
Data centres in Quilicura draw about 1.5 billion litres of water a year, and a 468-hectare wetland has largely dried. TechSpot
Where?
Quilicura, Chile. TechSpot
When?
2024. TechSpot
Who?
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Water withdrawals by data centres, including a withdrawal right held by Google. TechSpot
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
TechSpot reported that data centres in Quilicura draw about 1.5 billion litres of water a year.
According to the report, Google holds a water withdrawal right of 50 litres per second.
The report says the 468-hectare wetland has largely dried.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record The sources reviewed do not name the data-centre operators drawing water in Quilicura.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not name the wetland.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
- Andhra Pradesh granted Google-linked data centre incentives in October 2025 India · 2025
- Google (Company) — here: Holder of a water withdrawal right; there: Company the report describes as linked to the recipient
- Big Tech data-centre emissions accounting (Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta) United States · 2007–2026
- Google (Company) — here: Holder of a water withdrawal right; there: Company; reports hourly and annual carbon-free energy matching
- Deep-sea mining: TMC, NORI, the NOAA permit and the ISA International waters (Pacific Ocean) · 2022–2026
- Google (Company) — here: Holder of a water withdrawal right; there: Pledged not to source deep-sea minerals (2021)
- Google data centre, Canelones (Uruguay) Uruguay · 2023–2024
- Google (Company) — here: Holder of a water withdrawal right; there: Project developer
- Google data centre, Cerrillos (Chile) Chile · 2024
- Google (Company) — here: Holder of a water withdrawal right; there: Project developer