Nye County officials moving to ban data centers in Pahrump.

“It’s become the national boogeyman.”

This statement by Nye County Water District Governing Board member Michael Lach succinctly captures the public angst over the rise of data centers and in Pahrump, residents are pushing for officials to take action to ensure their community does not wind up with one of these facilities.

During its Tuesday, May 26 meeting, the water board held a discussion on the potential for data centers in the valley, where the sole source of water is Basin No. 162. Lach originally broached the subject but water district general manager Dann Weeks said water board member Ernie Jackson had also contacted him about an agenda item on the subject and he had already fielded around 50 phone calls from worried members of the public, too.

“I want you to know we have no authority over data centers. We are not the planning department, we are not the county commission, so we have no authority to approve or disapprove data centers,” Weeks clarified as the discussion opened. “However, as the water district, we are concerned about your concerns.”

“Everybody is after data centers and I don’t think there is a lot of knowledge on the amount of water that is actually used, on average, especially in an area like this. Evaporative cooling is the way that all these data centers are going right now, because it is the least expensive way to do it,” Lach stated.

Touching on a proposal from a data center developer looking to secure power from Valley Electric Association, Lach said just one of the 100-megawatt systems proposed would consume between 2,000 and 4,000 acre-feet of water.

“If we’re talking about us in Basin No. 162 always working off the number of 20,000 acre-feet as a recharge, it would be obscene for us to think of using 15% of our water for one 100-megawatt system,” Lach declared.

Alternate systems that do not utilize water could be an option but with air-cooled systems, noise could become a problem, he added. He also noted that not all of Nye County is strained when it comes to water, so other locations in northern parts of the county might be a better fit for companies looking to establish a data center in Nye.

Water board chair Ed Goedhart was quick to point out that Basin No. 162 extends across the county line into Clark County, where Nye County does not have authority. That means that if companies are approved over the border in Clark, they could potentially use Pahrump’s water anyway, while reaping the tax benefits.

Jackson noted that the situation is similar to the commercial solar fields, which are growing near the Nye County border in Clark County and utilizing Basin No. 162 water. “Everybody complained about solar, so what did they do? They moved over to Las Vegas,” Jackson stated. “We have to set forth something [regulations], get it out there and hopefully we can agree upon it.”

Nye County Commissioner Debra Strickland, who acts as liaison to the water board, said the county commission could potentially establish a moratorium on approvals for data centers until regulations are in place. She then suggested the water board open its emergency item so it could address any potential actions on the matter.

Weeks was prepared with a draft ordinance that would make data centers and non-permissive use within the Pahrump Regional Planning District (PRPD) and Nevada Hydrographic Basin No. 162, to be forwarded to the county commission for its approval.

“This is not to approve the ordinance,” Weeks emphasized. “This is to approve the draft language that was composed from another community that already passed an ordinance that made data centers illegal within their community. I took that language, modified it for Basin No. 162 and the Pahrump Regional Planning District. If the county were to use this ordinance language, it would only restrict data centers within the PRPD and within Basin No. 162.”

Following a round of public comment, which underscored the community’s united stance against data centers, water board member Helene Williams made the motion to approve the draft language and send it to the county commission for adoption. That motion passed with all in favor.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com