Botetourt VA Google data center 2 MGD water cap (2026)

Botetourt County, VA — Western Virginia Water Authority Caps Google Data Center at 2 Million Gallons Per Day Until Infrastructure Is Upgraded at Google's Cost (August 2026)
Botetourt County, VA · W. Va. Water Auth. — Botetourt County data center service determination (Aug. 2026)

Status
In effect
Took effect
August 19, 2026
Applies to
Google, as the data center customer, which must fund delivery infrastructure upgrades and participate in six-monthly reviews; the Western Virginia Water Authority in approving service requests.
Enforced by
Western Virginia Water Authority

Officials at the Western Virginia Water Authority confirmed in August 2026 that they will not approve Google requests for more than 2 million gallons of water per day for its planned data center in Botetourt County — even though the underlying contract permits Google to request up to 8 million gallons daily. The reason is physical rather than discretionary: the infrastructure to deliver more than 2 million gallons per day from Carvins Cove does not exist, and local officials say they are not prepared for that level of demand. Two features make this worth recording rather than treating as an ordinary utility contract. First, Google is contractually required to pay for the system upgrades needed to raise that ceiling, so the cost of expanding capacity sits with the customer creating the demand rather than with ratepayers. Second, the funding agreement requires the Water Authority to meet with Google every six months to review and project the facility's water needs — a recurring reassessment rather than a one-time approval. By projected water use, the Botetourt site would be Google's eighth-largest data center complex in the world.

Who is protected: Botetourt County and Roanoke Valley water customers served by the Western Virginia Water Authority, protected by a hard 2 MGD ceiling, by Google bearing the cost of any capacity expansion, and by six-monthly reassessment of projected demand.

Legal detail

Western Virginia Water Authority determination, confirmed August 2026, that it will not approve requests exceeding 2 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY for Google's planned Botetourt County data center, against a contractual ceiling permitting requests up to 8 million gallons per day. BASIS: the physical delivery infrastructure from Carvins Cove to the site does not exist above 2 MGD, and the Authority states it is not currently prepared for that demand. TWO OPERATIVE FEATURES: (1) COST ALLOCATION — Google is contractually obliged to fund the system upgrades required to deliver above the current ceiling, placing expansion cost on the demand-creating customer rather than the ratepayer base; (2) PERIODIC REVIEW — the funding agreement requires the Water Authority to meet with Google every six months to review and project the facility's water needs, converting a static approval into a recurring reassessment. Trajectory: initial use of 2 MGD rising toward 8 MGD as infrastructure permits. Scale context: Cardinal News reported that by water use the Botetourt site would be Google's eighth-largest data center complex globally. INSTRUMENT CLASS: this is a public water authority's service determination under a funding agreement, not an ordinance or statute — enforceable as contract and capacity rather than as regulation, which is why strength is moderate. It is nonetheless a binding, quantified constraint of the kind most jurisdictions in this dataset only aspire to through reporting requirements.

Key facts

JurisdictionBotetourt County, VA
LevelCounty
StrengthModerate
EnactedAugust 19, 2026
CitationW. Va. Water Auth. — Botetourt County data center service determination (Aug. 2026)
Private right of actionNo, agency enforcement only
PenaltiesService requests above the approved ceiling are not granted
Topicsdata-center siting and energy · government use of AI · AI disclosure and transparency
News reportGoogle data center capped at 2M gallons of water a day until infrastructure upgraded — WDBJ7

Related data-center siting and energy rules elsewhere

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