As Data Centers Proliferate Across Illinois, Communities Grapple with How to Supply the Necessary Water

Computing facilities require lots of water to operate, putting the burden of allocating resources on municipalities.

“We are concerned about the planning of the explosion of data centers, and if these far-out suburbs are actually accounting for that,” said Iyana Simba, city government affairs director for the Illinois Environmental Council. “How much of that was taken into account when they did their initial planning to purchase water from the city of Chicago? This isn’t reused wastewater. This is drinking water.”

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Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Tuesday directing city departments to intensify scrutiny of new data centers in Chicago — a politically potent move that doesn’t unilaterally impose new limits on the fast-growing industry, but could slow its growth.
Every year, the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) issues a voting scorecard that grades members of the Illinois General Assembly on how they voted for bills affecting the environment.
Richard Chew is joined by Dany Robles, senior legislative director at the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC); he talks about IEC's 2026 Legislative Environmental Scorecard.