The Western Virginia Water Authority (WVWA) is addressing what it calls misinformation circulating in the community regarding water service for the proposed Google data center and is encouraging residents to rely on the terms of its official agreement with the company.
According to the authority, an early proposal discussed during negotiations in 2024 would have provided the project with 10 to 11 million gallons of water per day. WVWA said it rejected that proposal.
Before providing service to any large customer, the authority says it conducts engineering studies to evaluate available water supply, treatment capacity, drought resilience and potential impacts on existing customers.
WVWA said the only binding agreement governing water service to the proposed data center is the Utility Service Agreement approved by the Authority Board of Directors on Sept. 10, 2025, and fully executed on Oct. 14, 2025. The agreement is available on the authority’s website at www.westernvawater.org/datacenter.
Under the agreement, WVWA will initially provide no more than 2 million gallons of water per day to the data center as part of the project’s “Day 1 Water Solution.”
The authority said its first responsibility is ensuring a reliable water supply for existing customers. WVWA currently treats approximately 21 million gallons of water per day and has previously treated as much as 23 million gallons per day. Officials said they are confident the system can meet both existing customer demand and Google’s initial water needs.
The agreement also allows Google to request an increase to a maximum of 8 million gallons of water per day in the future. Any additional service beyond the initial 2 million gallons per day would require WVWA to determine that it can continue meeting both current and future water demands throughout its service area before approving such a request.
WVWA says that any figures exceeding those outlined in the executed agreement are either speculative or were part of proposals rejected during earlier negotiations.
~ Fincastle Herald staff report
