Google has committed to replenishing 120 percent of the water it consumers at its data centres and offices, on average, by 2030. The company it will use freshwater alternatives to cool its server farms. In places like Douglas County, Georgia, the company already uses reclaimed wastewater to keep its servers running. Moving forward, it will try to work more with wastewater and seawater.
At its offices, Google plans to use more on-site water sources, such as collected stormwater, for things like landscape irrigation and toilet flushing that don't require potable water. At its Bay Area campuses and a landscaping project, the company worked with local ecologists regarding its water use.
The company will in addition invest in community projects working to address local water and watershed challenges in places where the company has data centres and offices. It already has a partnership in place with the Colorado River Indian Tribes to reduce the amount of water removed from Lake Mead. The reservoir, the largest in the US, faces a pressing water shortage due to a combination of overuse and extended drought.
Lastly, Google will continue working with communities, policymakers and planners to help them with tools and technologies they need to measure and predict water availability and needs. The company referenced work it did with the United Nations Environment Programme to create the Freshwater Ecosystems Explorer, a tool that tracks national and local surface water changes over time.
Commitment of USD 1.5 million to the UN for its Center for Humanitarian data
Separately, Google announced a USD 1.5 million commitment to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA), for its Center for Humanitarian data. Over the coming two years, Google.org will help the centre scale up the use of forecasts and predictive models to anticipate humanitarian crises and trigger the release of funds before conditions escalate.
