Microsoft Stargate Guzzles 463 Million Gallons—Texas AI Outdrinks Entire Town

Microsoft Stargate campus in Abilene is quietly chugging 463 million gallons of water as Texas Google searches spike for “data center water use” and “AI power needs.” Microsoft and the U.S. Army Corps out-hydrate tens of thousands of San Antonio homes, evaporating entire neighborhoods’ worth of supply. “Once that water evaporates, it’s just gone,” quips Robert Mace, underscoring how AI’s thirst leaves real humans dry.
That image—an AI campus guzzling more water than a Texan town—gets wilder: by 2030, state data centers may gulp 399 billion gallons yearly. Queries like “how do data centers stay cool?” and “Microsoft water positive pledge” spike as facilities with code names slurp from drinking water while residents ration. A “water positive” promise seems like a chatbot trying to refill a swimming pool with a teaspoon.
Texas data centers could drain enough water by 2030 to out-swim seven percent of the entire state’s projected supply—imagine AI servers in cowboy hats, sipping the last drop.